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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 


SAN7A  CRUZ 


SPEECHES  OF  BENJAMIN  HARRISON 


SPEECHES 


BENJAMIN^HARRISON 

TWENTY-THIRD  PRESIDENT  OK  THE  UNITED  STATES 


A   COMPLETE  COLLECTION    OF   HIS    PUBLIC    ADDRESSES   FROM    FERUARY 

l888,    TO    FEBRUARY,     1892,    CHRONOLOGICALLY    CLASSIFIED;, 

EMBRACING   ALL    HIS    CAMPAIGN    SPEECHES,   LETTER 

OF  ACCEPTANCE,  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS,  AND  THK 

NUMEROUS   SPEECHES   DELIVERED   DURING 

HIS  SEVERAL  TOURS;  ALSO  EXTRACTS 

FROM     HIS    MESSAGES    TO 

CONGRESS 


COMPILED   BY 

CHARLES    HEDGES 


NEW   YORK 
UNITED   STATES   BOOK  COMPANY 

SUCCESSORS    TO 

JOHN    W.    LOVELL    COMPANY 

142    TO    150    WORTH    STREET 


COPYRIGHT,   1892, 

BY 
CHARLKS  HEDGES 


E 

66 
HZ 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  present  a  few  selec- 
tions of  oratory,  laboriously  prepared  and  polished,  or 
occasional  flashes  of  brilliant  thought.  From  such  efforts, 
prepared,  perhaps,  after  days  of  study  and  repeated  revi- 
sion, one  can  form  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  their  author. 
Such  a  compilation  might  show  the  highest  conceptions  of 
the  man,  and  evidence  a  wide  range  of  thought  and  a  sur- 
passing grandeur  of  expression;  but  it  would  be  but  a 
poor  mirror  of  the  man  himself  in  his  daily  life. 

It  is  due  to  the  people  that  the  largest  opportunity  be 
given  them  to  observe  the  character  of  their  public  ser- 
vants, to  come  into  closest  touch  with  their  daily  thoughts, 
and  to  know  them  as  they  are — not  when  prepared  for 
special  occasions,  but  day  after  day  and  all  the  time.  It 
is  with  this  view  that  this  collection  of  the  speeches  of 
President  Harrison  is  offered  to  the  public.  It  is  a  series 
of  instantaneous  photographs  that  have  caught  him  un- 
awares. The  studied  pose  is  wanting,  but  the  pictures  are 
true  to  life. 

There  are  included  the  letter  of  acceptance,  the  inaug- 
ural address,  the  letter  to  the  commercial  congress,  ex- 
tracts from  his  last  annual  message  to  Congress,  his  patri- 
otic message  on  the  Chilian  affair,  and  a  few  carefully 
prepared  speeches,  among  them  his  notable  addresses  at  the 
banquet  of  the  Michigan  Club,  February  22, 1888,  and  before 
the  Marquette  Club  at  Chicago,  March  20,  the  same  year; 
also  his  celebrated  speech  at  Galveston,  in  April  last.  All 


4  PREFACE. 

and  concise,  forcible,  and  elegant  expression.  With  these 
exceptions,  the  speeches  presented  were  delivered  during 
the  presidential  campaign  of  1888,  often  four  or  five  in  a 
day,  to  visiting  delegations  of  citizens,  representing  every 
occupation  and  interest,  and  during  his  tours  of  1890  and 
1891,  when  he  often  spoke  eight  or  ten  times  a  day  from 
the  platform  of  his  car. 

If  these  speeches  contained  no  other  merit,  they  would 
be  remarkable  in  the  fact  that,  while  delivered  during 
the  excitement  of  a  political  campaign  and  in  the  hurry 
of  wayside  pauses  in  a  journey  by  railroad,  the}'  contain 
not  one  carelessly  spoken  word  that  can  detract  from  their 
dignity,  or,  by  any  possible  distortion  of  language,  be 
turned  against  their  author  by  his  political  opponents. 
With  no  opportunity  for  elaborately  studied  phrases,  he 
did  not  utter  a  word  that  could  be  sneered  at  as  weak  or 
commonplace.  This  fact  is  all  the  more  noteworthy  when 
we  recall  the  dismal  failures  that  have  been  made  by 
others  under  like  circumstances. 

A  spirit  of  exalted  patriotism  and  broad  statesmanship 
is  apparent  in  every  line;  and  notwithstanding  the  ma- 
lignity of  the  partisan  assaults  that  were  made -upon  him, 
no  words  of  bitterness — only  terms  of  generous  tolerance — 
characterize  his  allusions  to  his  political  opponents. 

With  a  single  notable  exception,  no  thought  of  same- 
ness or  repetition  is  ever  suggested.  That  exception  was 
the  central  thought  and  vital  principle  that  was  at  stake 
in  the  campaign.  One  marvels  at  his  versatility  in  adapt- 
ing himself  to  every  occasion,  whether  he  was  addressing 
a  delegation  of  miners,  of  comrades  in  war,  or  of  children 
from  the  public  schools ;  we  admire  the  lofty  thoughts  and 
the  delicious  humor ;  but  while  he  might  soften  in  tender, 
playful  greeting  of  children,  or  live  again  with  his  com- 
rades the  old  life  of  tent  and  field,  he  never  for  one  mo- 
ment forgot  the  great  principle  whose  banner  he  had  been 
chosen  to  uphold.  Protection  of  American  industrv  was 


PREFACE.  5 

always  his  foremost  thought — and  how  well  he  presented 
it!  What  an  example  to  the  politician  who  seeks  by 
evasion  or  silence  to  avoid  the  questions  at  issue ! 

The  book  is  therefore  presented  with  the  gratifying  be- 
lief that  a  valuable  service  has  been  rendered  in  collect- 
ing these  speeches  and  putting  them  in  an  enduring  form, 
not  only  because  they  give  the  American  people  the  most 
lifelike  mental  portrait  of  their  Chief  Magistrate,  but  be- 
cause they  are  a  valuable  contribution  to  American  liter- 
ature. 

In  order  to  the  best  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
an  address,  it  is  often  necessary  to  know  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  was  delivered.  Especially  is  this  true  when 
the  address  was  made,  as  many  of  these  were,  to  some 
particular  organization  or  class  of  citizens  or  at  the  cele- 
bration of  some  important  event.  For  this  reason,  as  well 
as  for  their  important  historical  value,  an  account  is  given 
of  the  occasion  of  each  speech,  including,  as  far  as  they 
could  be  learned,  the  names  of  the  more  distinguished  per- 
sons who  were  present  and  took  part  in  the  exercises. 

C.H. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  20,  1892. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  twenty-third  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  Tuesday,  August  20,  1833,  at  North  Bend, 
Hamilton  County,  Ohio.  He  is  the  second  son  of  the  late  John 
Scott  and  Elizabeth  Irwin  Harrison. 

His  father — the  third  son  of  President  William  Henry  Harrison 
and  Anna  Symmes — was  born  at  Vincennes,  Indiana,  was  twice 
elected  to  Congress  as  a  Democrat,  from  the  Cincinnati  district, 
and  died  in  1878. 

General  William  Henry  Harrison,  ninth  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  the  third  son  of  a  famous  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence — Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  and  his  wife  Eliz- 
abeth Bassett.  This  Benjamin  Harrison,  "  the  signer, "  was  one  of 
the  first  seven  delegates  from  Virginia  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
He  reported  the  resolution  for  independence,  was  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  and  was  thrice  elected  Governor  of  Virginia, 
dying  in  1791  ;  he  was  the  eldest  son  of  Benjamin  and  Anna  Carter 
Harrison,  both  of  whom  were  descended  from  ancestors  distin- 
guished for  their  high  character  and  their  services  to  the  colony 
of  Virginia. 

Ben  Harrison's  boyhood  was  passed  upon  his  father's  farm  in 
Ohio.  At  the  age  of  14,  with  his  elder  brother  Irwin,  he  attended 
Farmer's  College  at  Cincinnati,  preparatory  to  entering  Miami  Uni- 
versity at  Oxford,  Ohio,  from  which  institution  he  graduated  in 
1852. 

He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Belamy  Storer  at  Cincin- 
nati, and  in  March,  1854 — with  his  bride,  Miss  Caroline  W.  Scott, 
to  whom  he  was  wedded  October  20,  1853 — he  located  at  Indian- 
apolis and  began  the  practice  of  the  law. 

In  1860  he  was  elected  reporter  of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Indiana,  as  a  Republican,  receiving  9,688  majority. 

In  July,  1862,  he  was  commissioned  by  Gov.  Oliver  P.  Morton 
as  second  lieutenant,  and  raised  Company  A  of  the  Seventieth 
Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  commissioned  captain,  and  on  the 
organization  of  the  regiment  was  commissioned  colonel.  In  Au- 
gust his  regiment  entered  the  field  and  became  a  part  of  the  1st 
Brigade  of  the  1st  Division  of  the  20th  Army  Corps,  Gen.  W.  T. 
Ward,  of  Kentucky,  brigade  commander.  At  the  battle  of  Resaca, 
Sunday,  May  15,  1864,  the  Seventieth  Regiment  led  the  brigade  in 
a  gallant  charge,  and  its  colonel  signally  distinguished  himself, 
being  among  the  first  to  scale  the  bloody  parapet.  He  actively 
participated  in  the  engagements  at  Cassville,  New  Hope  Church, 
Gilgal  Church,  Kulps  Hill,  and  Kenesaw.  Following  that  great 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

captain  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  initiatory  to  his  famous  march 
to  the  sea,  Colonel  Harrison  at  the  battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  July  20, 
1864,  in  the  crisis  of  the  fight,  without  awaiting  orders,  seized  an 
important  position  and  successfully  resisted,  at  great  loss,  the  ter- 
rific assaults  of  a  large  detachment  of  Hood's  army.  For  this 
brilliant  achievement,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Major-General 
Joe  Hooker,  he  was  brevetted  in  March,  1865,  by  President  Lin- 
coln, a  brigadier- general,  to  date  from  January  23,  1865. 

In  October,  1864,  while  at  the  front,  he  was  re-elected,  by  19,713 
majority,  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  office  he  had  lost 
by  accepting  a  commission  in  the  army.  After  four  years  as  re- 
porter he  resumed  his  law  practice,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Albert  G.  Porter  and  W.  P.  Fishback.  About  1870  Mr.  Fishback  re- 
tired, and  the  firm  became  Porter,  Harrison  &  Hines ;  upon  Gov- 
ernor Porter's  retirement  W.  H.  H.  Miller  took  his  place,  and  in 
1883  Mr.  Hines  retired,  and,  John  B.  Elam  coming  in,  the  firm  be- 
came Harrison,  Miller  &  Elam. 

In  1876  Hon.  Godlove  S.  Ortli  was  nominated  as  Republican  can- 
didate for  Governor  of  Indiana,  but  pending  the  canvass  he  unex- 
pectedly withdrew.  In  this  emergency,  during  General  Harrison's 
absence  on  a  trip  to  Lake  Superior,  the  Central  Committee  substi- 
tuted his  name  at  the  head  of  the  ticket.  Undertaking  the  can- 
vass despite  adverse  conditions,  he  was  defeated  by  Hon.  James  D. 
Williams — -""Blue  Jeans" — by  a  plurality  of  5,084  votes. 

In  1878  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Con- 
vention. 

In  1879  he  was  appointed  by  President  Hayes  a  member  of  the 
Mississippi  River  Commission. 

In  1880  he  was  chairman  of  the  delegation  from  Indiana  to  the 
National  Convention,  and  with  his  colleagues  cast  34  consecutive 
ballots  for  James  G.  Elaine  in  that  historic  contest. 

President  Garfield  tendered  him  any  position  but  one  in  his 
Cabinet,  but  the  high  honor  was  declined. 

In  January,  1881,  he  was  elected  United  States  Senator — the 
unanimous  choice  of  his  party — to  succeed  Joseph  E.  McDonald, 
and  served  six  years  to  March  3,  1887. 

In  1884  he  again  represented  his  State  as  delegate  at  large  to  the 
National  Convention. 

January,  1887,  he  was  a  second  time  the  unanimous  choice  of 
his  party  for  United  States  Senator,  but  after  a  protracted  and  ex- 
citing contest  was  defeated  on  the  sixteenth  joint  ballot,  upon 
party  lines,  by  2  majority. 

June  25,  1888,  he  was  nominated  at  Chicago  by  the  Republican 
National  Conventon  for  President,  on  the  eighth  ballot,  receiving 
544  votes  against  118  for  John  Sherman,  100  for  Russell  A.  Alger, 
and  59  for  Walter  Q.  Gresham.  He  was  chosen  President  by  233 
electoral  votes  against  168  for  Grover  Cleveland.  The  popular  vote 
resulted:  5.536,242  (48.63  per  cent.)  for  the  Democratic  ticket, 
5,440,708  (47.83  per  cent.)  for  the  Republican  ticket,  246,876  (2.16 
per  cent.)  for  the  Prohibition,  146,836  (1.27  per  cent.)  for  the 
Union  Labor,  and  7,777  (0.11  per  cent.)  scattering. 


HARRISON'S    SPEECHES. 


DETROIT,  FEBRUARY  22,  1888. 
Michigan  Club  Banquet. 

THE  Michigan  Club,  the  largest  and  most  influential 
political  organization  in  the  State,  held  its  third  annual 
banquet  at  the  Detroit  Rink  on  Washington's  Birthday, 
1838. 

The  officers  of  the  club  were :  President ',  Clarence  A. 
Black;  Vice- President,  William  H.  Elliott;  Secretary ', 
Fred.  E.  Farnsworth ;  Treasurer,  Frederick  Woolfenden. 

Senator  Thomas  W.  Palmer  was  president  of  the  even- 
ing; the  vice-presidents  were:  Hons.  F.  B.  Stockbridge, 

C.  G.  Luce,  J.  H.  Macdonald,  Austin  Blair,   H.  P.  Bald- 
win, David  H.  Jerome,  R.  A.  Alger,  O.  D.  Conger,  Chas. 

D.  Long,   E.  P.  Allen,  James  CVDonnell,   J.  C.  Burrows, 
M.  S.  Brewer,  S.  M.  Cutcheon,   Henry  W.  Seymour,  Benj. 
F.  Graves,  Isaac  Marston,  Edward  S.  Lacy,  John  T.  Rich, 
O.  L.  Spaulding,   Geo.  W.  Webber,  Geo.  Willard,  E.  W. 
Keightley,  R.  G.  Horr,   E.  O.  Grosvenor,  James  Bimey, 
C.  E.  Ellsworth,  D.  P.  Markey. 

The  distinguished  guests  and  speakers  of  the  evening 
from  other  States  were :  General  Benjamin  Harrison,  Ind. ; 
General  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  Conn. ;  "Hon.  William  Mc- 
Kinley,  Jr.,  Ohio;  Hon.  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Hon.  John 
F.  Finerty,  and  General  Green  B.  Raum,  111. ;  Hon.  L. 

E.  McComas,  Md. ;  and  Hon.  James  P.  Foster,  N.  Y. 
General  Harrison  responded  to  the  sentiment,  "  Wash- 
ington, the  republican.     The  guarantee  of  the  Constitu- 


10  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

tion  that  the  State  shall  have  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment is  only  executed  when  the  majority  in  the  States 
are  allowed  to  vote  and  have  their  ballots  counted." 

His  speech  attracted  widespread  attention  at  the  time, 
and  is  considered  one  of  his  greatest.  One  expression 
therein — viz. :  "  I  am  a  dead  statesman,  but  a  living  and 
rejuvenated  Republican" — went  broadcast  over  the  land 
and  became  one  of  the  keynotes  of  the  campaign. 

Senator  Harrison  made  the  first  reference  of  the  even- 
ing to  the  name  of  "Chandler."  It  was  talismanic; 
instantly  a  great  wave  of  applause  swept  over  the  banquet- 
hall,  and  thenceforth  the  speaker  carried  his  hearers 
with  him. 

The  Senator  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Michigan  Club — I  feel  that  I 
am  at  some  disadvantage  here  to-night  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  I 
did  not  approach  Detroit  from  the  direction  of  Washington  city. 
I  am  a  dead  statesman  ["No  !  No !"]  ;  but  I  am  a  living  and  rejuve- 
nated Republican.  I  have  the  pleasure  to-night,  for  the  first  time 
in  my  life,  of  addressing  an  audience  of  Michigan  Republicans. 
Your  invitations  in  the  past  have  been  frequent  and  urgent,  but  I 
have  always  felt  that  you  knew  how  to  do  your  own  work,  that 
we  could  trust  the  stalwart  Republicans  of  this  magnificent  State 
to  hold  this  key  of  the  lakes  against  all  comers.  I  am  not  here 
to-night  in  the  expectation  that  I  shall  be  able  to  help  you  by  any 
suggestion,  or  even  to  kindle  into  greater  earnestness  that  zeal  and 
interest  in  Republican  principles  which  your  presence  hereto-night 
so  well  attests.  I  am  here  rather  to  be  helped  myself,  to  bathe 
my  soul  in  this  high  atmosphere  of  patriotism  and  pure  Republi- 
canism [applause]  by  spending  a  little  season  in  the  presence  of 
those  who  loved  and  honored  and  followed  the  Cromwell  of  the 
Republican  party,  Zachariah  Chandler.  [Tremendous  applause.  ] 

The  sentiment  which  has  been  assigned  me  to-night — "Washing- 
ton, the  republican ;  a  free  and  equal  ballot  the  only  guarantee  of 
the  Nation's  security  and  perpetuity"— is  one  that  was  supported 
with  a  boldness  of  utterance,  with  a  defiance  that  was  unexcelled 
by  any  leader,  by  Zachariah  Chandler  always  and  everywhere. 
[Applause.  ]  As  Republicans  we  are  fortunate,  as  has  been  sug- 
gested, in  the  fact  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  our 
party,  nothing  in  the  principles  that  we  advocate,  to  make  it  im- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  11 

possible  for  us  to  gather  and  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  any 
American  who  honored  or  defended  his  country.  [Cheers.  ]  We 
could  even  unite  with  our  Democratic  friends  in  celebrating  the 
birthday  of  St.  Jackson,  because  we  enter  into  fellowship  with  him 
when  we  read  his  story  of  how  by  proclamation  he  put  down 
nullification  in  South  Carolina.  [Applause.]  We  could  meet  with 
them  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  Thomas  Jefferson ;  because  there 
is  no  note  in  the  immortal  Declaration  or  in  the  Constitution  of 
our  country  that  is  out  of  harmony  with  Republicanism.  [Cheers.  ] 
But  our  Democratic  friends  are  under  limitation.  They  have  a 
short  calendar  of  sense,  and  they  must  omit  from  the  history  of 
those  whose  names  are  on  their  calendar  the  best  achievements  of 
their  lives.  I  do  not  know  what  the  party  is  preserved  for.  Its 
history  reminds  me  of  the  boulder  in  the  stream  of  progress,  imped- 
ing and  resisting  its  onward  flow  and  moving  only  by  the  force 
that  it  resists. 

I  want  to  read  a  very  brief  extract  from  a  most  notable  paper — 
one  that  was  to-day  in  the  Senate  at  Washington  read  from  the 
desk  by  its  presiding  officer — the  "Farewell  Address  of  Wash- 
ington ; "  and  while  it  is  true  that  I  cannot  quote  or  find  in  the 
writings  of  Washington  anything  specifically  referring  to  ballot- 
box  fraud,  to  tissue  ballots,  to  intimidation,  to  forged  tally-sheets 
[cheers],  for  the  reason  that  these  things  had  not  come  in  his  day 
to  disturb  the  administration  of  the  Government,  yet  in  the  com- 
prehensiveness of  the  words  he  uttered,  like  the  comprehensive 
declarations  of  the  Holy  Book,  we  may  find  admonition  and  guid- 
ance, and  even  with  reference  to  a  condition  of  things  that  his  pure 
mind  could  have  never  contemplated.  Washington  said  :  "Liberty 
is  indeed  little  less  than  a  name  where  the  Government  is  too 
feeble  to  withstand  the  enterprises  of  factions,  to  confine  each 
member  of  society  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  law,  and  to 
maintain  all  in  the  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of 
persons  and  property. "  If  I  had  read  that  to  a  Democratic  meeting 
they  would  have  suspected  that  it  was  an  extract  from  some  Re- 
publican speech.  [Laughter.  ]  My  countrymen,  this  Government  is 
that  which  I  love  to  think  of  as  my  country  ;  for  not  acres,  or 
railroads,  or  farm  products,  or  bulk  meats,  or  Wall  Street,  or  all 
combined,  are  the  country  that  I  love.  It  is  the  institution,  the 
form  of  government,  the  frame  of  civil  society,  for  which  that  flag 
stands,  and  which  we  love  to-day.  [Applause.]  It  is  what  Mr. 
Lincoln  so  tersely,  yet  so  felicitously,  described  as  a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people ;  a  government  of 
the  people,  because  they  instituted  it — the  Constitution  reads, 


12  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

"We,  the  people,  have  ordained;"  by  the  people,  because  it  is 
in  all  its  departments  administered  by  them  ;  for  the  people,  be- 
cause it  states  as  its  object  of  supreme  attainment  the  happiness, 
security  and  peace  of  the  people  that  dwell  under  it.  [Applause.  ] 

The  bottom  principle — sometimes  it  is  called  a  corner-stone, 
sometimes  the  foundation  of  our  structure  of  government — is  the 
principle  of  control  by  the  majority  It  is  more  than  the  corner- 
stone or  foundation  This  structure  is  a  monolith,  one  from  founda- 
tion to  apex,  and  that  monolith  stands  for  and  is  this  principle 
of  government  by  majorities,  legally  ascertained  by  constitutional 
methods.  Everything  else  about  our  government  is  appendage,  it 
is  ornamentation.  This  is  the  monolithic  column  that  was  reared, 
by  Washington  and  his  associates  For  this  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion was  fought ,  for  this  and  its  more  perfect  security  the  Consti  - 
tution  was  formed ;  for  this  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  fought ; 
and  when  this  principle  perishes  the  structure  which  Washington 
and  his  compatriots  reared  is  dishonored  in  the  dust.  The  equal- 
ity of  the  ballot  demands  that  our  apportionments  in  the  States  for 
legislative  and  congressional  purposes  shall  be  so  adjusted,  that 
there  shall  be  equality  in  the  influence  and  the  power  of  every 
elector,  so  that  it  shall  not  be  true  anywhere  thai)  one  man  counts 
two  or  one  and  a  half  and  some  other  man  counts  only  one  half. 

But  some  one  says  that  is  fundamental.  All  men  accept  this 
truth.  Not  quite.  My  countrymen,  we  are  confronted  by  this 
condition  of  things  in  America  to-day ;  a  government  by  the 
majority,  expressed  by  an  equal  and  a  free  ballot,  is  not  only 
threatened,  but  it  has  been  overturned.  Why  is  it  to-day  that 
we  have  legislation  threatening  the  industries  of  this  country? 
Why  is  it  that  the  paralyzing  shadow  of  free  trade  falls  upon  the 
manufactures  and  upon  the  homes  of  our  laboring  classes?  It  is 
because  the  laboring  vote  in  the  Southern  States  is  suppressed. 
There  would  be  no  question  about  the  security  of  these  principles 
so  long  established  by  law,  so  eloquently  set  forth  by  my  friend 
from  Connecticut,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  workingmen  o£  the 
South  have  been  deprived  of  their  influence  in  choosing  representa- 
tives at  Washington. 

But  some  timid  soul  is  alarmed  at  the  suggestion.  He  says  we 
are  endeavoring  to  rake  over  the  coals  of  an  extinct  strife,  to  see  if 
we  may  not  find  some  ember  in  which  there  is  yet  sufficient  vitality 
to  rekindle  the  strife  Some  man  says  you  are  actuated  by 
unfriendly  feelings  toward  the  South,  you  want  to  fight  the  war 
over  again,  you  are  flaunting  the  bloody  shirt.  My  countrymen, 
those  epithets  and  that  talk  never  have  any  terrors  for  me. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  13 

[Applause.]  I  do  not  want  to  fight  the  war  over  again,  and  I  am 
sure  no  Northern  soldier — and  there  must  be  many  here  of  those 
gallant  Michigan  regiments,  some  of  which  I  had  the  pleasure 
during  the  war  of  seeing  in  action — not  one  of  these  that  wishes  to 
renew  that  strife  cr  fight  the  war  over  again.  Not  one  of  this 
great  assemblage  of  Republicans  who  listen  to  me  to-night  wishes 
ill  to  the  South.  If  it  were  left  to  us  here  to-night  the  streams  of 
her  prosperity  would  be  full.  We  would  gladly  hear  of  her  reviving 
and  stimulated  industry.  We  gladly  hear  of  increasing  wealth  in 
those  States  of  the  South.  We  wish  them  to  share  in  the  onward 
and  upward  movement  of  a  great  people.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
the  war,  it  is  not  a  question  of  the  States  between  '61  and  '65,  at 
all,  that  I  am  talking  about  to-night.  It  is  what  they  have  been 
since  '60.  It  is  what  they  did  in  '84,  when  a  President  was  to  be 
chosen  for  this  country. 

Our  controversy  is  not  one  of  the  past ;  it  is  of  the  present.  It 
has  relation  to  that  which  will  be  done  next  November,  when  our 
people  are  again  called  to  choose  a  President.  What  is  it  we  ask? 
Simply  that  the  South  live  up  to  the  terms  of  the  surrender  at 
Appomattox.  When  that  great  chieftain  received  the  surrender  of 
the  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  when  those  who  had  for  four  years 
confronted  us  in  battle  stacked  arms  in  total  surrender,  the  terms 
were  simply  these .  "  You  shall  go  to  your  homes  and  shall  be  there 
unmolested  so  long  as  you  obey  the  laws  in  force  where  you  reside. " 
That  is  the  sum  of  our  demand.  We  ask  nothing  more  of  the 
South  to-night  than  that  they  shall  cease  to  use  this  recovered 
citizenship  which  they  had  forfeited  by  rebellion  to  oppress  and 
disfranchise  those  who  equally  with  themselves  under  the  Constitu- 
tion are  entitled  to  vote— that  and  nothing  more. 

I  do  not  need  to  enter  into  details.  The  truth  to-day  is  that  the 
colored  Republican  vote  of  the  South,  and  with  it  and  by  conse- 
quence the  white  Republican  vote  of  the  South,  is  deprived  of  all 
effective  influence  in  the  administration  of  this  Government  The 
additional  power  given  by  the  colored  population  of  the  South  in 
the  Electoral  College  and  in  Congress  was  more  than  enough  to 
turn  the  last  election  for  President,  and  more  than  enough  to 
reverse — yes,  largely  more  than  reverse — the  present  Democratic 
majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Have  we  not  the  spirit 
to  insist  that  everywhere  north  and  south  in  this  country  of  ours 
no  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  ballot  by  reason  of  his  politics? 
There  is  not  in  all  this  land  a  place  where  any  rebel  soldier  is  sub- 
ject to  any  restraint  or  is  denied  the  fullest  exercise  of  the  elective 
franchise.  Shall  we  not  insist  that  what  is  true  of  those  who 


14  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

fought  to  destroy  the  country  shall  be  true  of  every  man  who 
fought  for  it,  or  loved  it,  like  the  black  man  of  the  South  did 
[applause] — that  to  belong  to  Abraham  Lincoln's  party  shall  be 
respectable  and  reputable  everywhere  in  America?  [Cheers.] 

But  this  is  not  simply  a  Southern  question.  It  has  come  to  be  a 
national  question,  for  not  only  is  the  Republican  vote  suppressed 
in  the  South,  but  I  ask  you  to  turn  your  eyes  to  as  fair  and  pros- 
perous a  territory  as  ever  sat  at  the  door  of  the  Federal  Union 
asking  admission  to  the  sisterhood  of  the  States.  See  yonder  in 
the  northwest  Dakota,  the  child  of  all  these  States,  with  500,000 
loyal,  intelligent,  law-abiding,  prosperous  American  citizens 
robbed  to-day  of  all  participation  in  the  affairs  of  this  Nation. 
The  hospitable  door  which  has  always  opened  to  territories  seek- 
ing admission  is  insolently  closed  in  her  face — and  why?  Simply 
because  the  predominating  sentiment  in  the  Territory  of  Dakota  is 
Republican — that  and  nothing  more.  And  that  is  not  all.  This 
question  of  a  free,  honest  ballot  has  crossed  the  Ohio  River.  The 
overspill  of  these  Southern  frauds  has  reached  Ohio  and  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  indicating  to  my  mind  a  national  conspiracy,  having 
its  centre  and  most  potent  influence  in  the  Southern  States,  but 
reaching  out  into  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  in  its  attempt  by 
frauds  upon  the  ballot-box  to  possess  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Go  down  to  Cincinnati  in  a  recent  election  and  look  at 
the  election  returns,  shamelessly,  scandalously  manipulated  to 
return  members  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Ohio,  in  order  that 
that  grand  champion  of  Republican  principles,  John  Sherman, 
might  be  defeated.  Go  yonder  with  me  to  Chicago  and  look  into 
those  frauds  upon  the  ballot — devised,  executed  in  furtherance  of 
the  same  iniquitous  scheme,  intended  to  defeat  the  re-election  of 
that  gallant  soldier,  that  fearless  defender  of  Republican  principles, 
John  A.  Logan  of  Illinois.  [Great  cheering.] 

And  these  people  have  even  invaded  Indiana.  At  the  last  election 
in  my  own  State,  first  by  gerrymander,  they  disturbed  and  utterly 
destroyed  the  equality  of  suffrage  in  that  State ;  it  was  so  framed 
as  to  give  the  Democratic  party  a  majority  of  50  on  joint  ballot ; 
and  Indiana  gave  a  Republican  majority  on  members  of  the 
Legislature  of  10, 000,  and  yet  they  claim  to  hold  the  Legislature. 
And  that  is  not  all.  Then,  when  gerrymander  had  failed,  they 
introduced  the  eraser  to  help  it  out  [laughter]  ;  scratched  our  tally- 
sheets,  shamelessly  transferred  ballots  from  Republican  to  Demo- 
cratic candidates.  How  are  we  going  to  deal  with  these  fellows? 
What  is  the  remedy?  As  to  the  Southern  aspect  of  this  question, 
I  have  first  to  suggest  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  free  people  of 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  15 

the  North,  those  who  love  the  Constitution  and  a  free  and  equal 
ballot,  those  who,  while  claiming  this  high  privilege  for  them- 
selves, will  deny  it  to  no  other  man,  to  welcome  a  President  who 
shall  not  come  into  office,  into  the  enjoyment  of  the  usufruct  of 
these  crimes,  against  the  ballot  [applause]  ;  that  will  be  great  gain. 
And  then  we  should  aim  to  place  in  the  Southern  States,  in  every 
office  exercising  federal  authority,  men  whose  local  influence  will 
be  against  these  frauds,  instead  of  such  men  as  the  district  attorney 
appointed  by  Mr.  Cleveland,  who  in  this  recent  outrage  upon  the 
ballot  in  Jackson,  Miss. ,  was  found  among  the  most  active  con- 
spirators, when,  by  public  resolution  of  a  Democratic  committee, 
Republicans  of  that  city  were  warned  away  from  the  polls.  Then 
again  we  shall  keep  ourselves  free  from  all  partisanship  if  we 
lift  our  voice  steadily  and  constantly  in  protest  against  these 
offences. 

There  is  vast  power  in  a  protest.  Public  opinion  is  the  most 
potent  monarch  this  world  knows  to-day.  Czars  tremble  in  its 
presence ;  and  we  may  bring  to  bear  upon  this  question  a  public 
sentiment,  by  bold  and  fearless  denunciation  of  it,  that  will  do  a 
great  deal  towards  correcting  it.  Why,  my  countrymen,  we  meet 
now  and  then  with  these  Irish -Americans  and  lift  our  voices  in 
denunciations  of  the  wrongs  which  England  is  perpetrating  upon 
Ireland.  [Applause.]  We  do  not  elect  any  Members  of  Parlia- 
ment, but  the  voice  of  free  America  protesting  against  these  cent- 
uries of  wrongs  has  had  a  most  potent  influence  in  creating,  stim- 
ulating and  sustaining  the  liberal  policy  of  William  E.  Gladstone 
and  his  associates.  [Great  applause.]  Cannot  we  do  as  much  for 
oppressed  Americans?  Can  we  not  make  our  appeal  to  these  Irish- 
American  citizens  who  appeal  to  us  in  behalf  of  their  oppressed 
fellow-countrymen  to  rally  with  us  in  this  crusade  against  election 
frauds  and  intimidation  in  the  country  that  they  have  made  their 
own?  [Applause.] 

There  may  be  legislative  remedies  in  sight  when  we  can  once 
again  possess  both  branches  of  the  national  Congress  and  have  an 
executive  at  Washington  who  has  not  been  created  by  these  crimes 
against  the  ballot.  [Applause.]  Whatever  they  are,  we  will  seek 
them  out  and  put  them  into  force — not  in  a  spirit  of  enmity 
against  the  men  who  fought  against  us — forgetting  the  war,  but 
only  insisting  that  now,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  it  is 
over,  a  free  ballot  shall  not  be  denied  to  Republicans  in  these 
States  where  rebels  have  been  rehabilitated  with  a  full  citizenship. 
[Applause.]  Every  question  waits  the  settlement  of  this.  The 
tariff  question  would  be  settled  already  if  the  1,000,000  of  black 


16  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

laborers  in  the  South  had  their  due  representation  in  the  House  of 
Representatives. 

And  my  soldier  friends,  interested  that  liberal  provisions  should 
be  made  for  the  care  of  the  disabled  soldier — are  they  willing  that 
this  question  should  be  settled  without  the  presence  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  power  and  influence  of  those  faithful  black 
men  in  the  South  who  were  always  their  friends?  [Applause.] 
The  dependent  pension  bill  would  pass  over  the  President's  veto 
if  these  black  friends  of  the  Union  soldier  had  their  fair  represen- 
tation in  Congress.  [Applause.]  It  is  the  dominant  question  at 
the  foundation  of  our  Government,  in  its  dominating  influence 
embracing  all  others,  because  it  involves  the  question  of  a  free  and 
fair  tribunal  to  which  every  question  shall  be  submitted  for 
arbitrament  and  final  determination.  Therefore,  I  would  here,  as 
we  shall  in  Indiana,  lift  up  our  protest  against  these  wrongs  which 
are  committed  in  the  name  of  democracy  ,  lift  high  our  demand, 
and  utter  it  with  resolution,  that  it  shall  no  longer  be  true  that  any- 
where in  this  country  men  are  disfranchised  for  opinion's  sake. 

I  believe  there  are  indications  that  this  power  is  taking  hold  of 
the  North.  Self-respect  calls  upon  us.  Does  some  devotee  at  the 
shrine  of  Mammon  say  it  will  disturb  the  public  pulse?  Do  we 
hear  from  New  York  and  her  markets  of  trade  that  it  is  a  disturb- 
ing question  and  we  must  not  broach  it?  I  beg  our  friends,  and 
those  who  thus  speak,  to-  recollect  that  there  is  no  peace,  that  there 
can  be  no  security  for  commerce,  no  security  for  the  perpetuation 
of  our  Government,  except  by  the  establishment  of  justice  the 
country  over.  [Great  applause.] 


CHICAGO,  MARCH  20,  1888. 
Marquette  Club  Banquet. 

ON  the  evening  of  March  20,  1888,  General  Harrison 
was  the  honored  guest  of  the  Marquette  Club  of  Chi- 
cago— one  of  the  leading  social  and  political  organizations 
of  that  great  city — at  their  second  annual  banquet,  given 
at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

The  officers  of  the  club  for  that  year  were :  George  V. 
Lauman,  President;  William  H.  Johnson,  First  Vice- 
President;  Hubert  D.  Crocker,  Second  Vice- President; 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  17 

Charles  U.  Gordon,  Secretary;  Will  Sheldon  Gilbert, 
Treasurer. 

The  Banquet  Committee  and  Committee  of  Reception  for 
the  occasion  comprised  the  following  prominent  members : 
James  S.  Moore,  Frederick  G.  Laird,  LeRoy  T.  Steward, 
Wm.  H.  Johnson,  James  E.  Rogers,  F.  W.  C.  Hayes, 
Henry  T.  Smith,  Harry  J.  Jones,  Chas.  S.  Norton,  Irving 
L.  Gould,  T.  A.  Broadbent,  Jas.  Rood,  Jr.,  Wm.  A. 
Paulsen,  T.  M.  Garrett,  Geo.  W.  Keehn,  Harry  P.  Fin- 
ney,  C.  B.  Niblock,  Wm.  A.  Lamson,  S.  E.  Magill, 
R.  D.  Wardwell,  Fred.  G.  McNally. 

President  Lauman  was  toastmaster,  and  opened  the  ban- 
quet with  an  address  of  welcome  to  Senator  Harrison. 

The  other  speakers  of  the  evening  were  Edward  J.  Judd, 
Theodore  Brentano,  Hon.  Thomas  C.  MacMillan,  Hon. 
John  S.  Runnells,  Newton  Wyeth,  Mayor  Roche  and  Presi- 
dent Tracy  of  the  State  League  of  Republican  Clubs. 

Amid  hearty  applause  General  Harrison  rose  to  respond 
to  the  toast,  "The  Republican  Party."  He  spoke  as  fol- 
lows: 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Marqnette  CM)— I  am  under 
an  obligation  that  I  shall  not  soon  forget  in  having  been  permitted 
by  your  courtesy  to  sit  at  your  table  to  night  and  to  listen  to  the 
eloquent  words  which  have  fallen  from  the  lips  of  those  speakers 
who  have  preceded  me.  I  count  it  a  privilege  to  spend  an  evening 
with  so  many  young  Republicans.  There  seems  to  be  a  fitness  in 
the  association  of  young  men  with  the  Republican  party.  The 
Republican  party  is  a  young  party.  I  have  not  yet  begun  to  call 
myself  an  old  man,  and  yet  there  is  no  older  Republican  in  the 
United  States  than  I  am.  My  first  presidential  vote  was  given  for 
the  first  presidential  candidate  of  the  Republican  party,  and  I  have 
supported  with  enthusiasm  every  successor  of  Fremont,  including 
that  matchless  statesman  who  claimed  our  suffrages  in  1884.  We 
cannot  match  ages  with  the  Democratic  party  any  more  than  that 
party  can  match  achievements  with  us.  It  has  lived  longer,  but  to 
less  purpose.  "  Moss -backed"  cannot  be  predicated  of  a  Republican. 
Our  Democratic  friends  have  a  monopoly  of  that  distinction,  and 
it  is  one  of  the  few  distinguished  monopolies  that  they  enjoy ;  and 
yet  when  I  hear  a  Democrat  boasting  himself  of  the  age  of  his 


18  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

party  I  feel  like  reminding  him  that  there  are  other  organized  evils 
in  the  world,  older  than  the  Democratic  party.  "The  Republican 
party, "  the  toast  which  you  have  assigned  to  me  to-night,  seems 
to  have  a  past,  a  present  and  a  future  tense  to  it.  It  suggests 
history,  and  yet  history  so  recent  that  it  is  to  many  here  to-night 
a  story  of  current  events  in  which  they  have  been  participants. 
The  Republican  party — the  influences  which  called  it  together  were 
eclectic  in  their  character.  The  men  who  formed  it  and  organ- 
ized it  were  picked  men.  The  first  assembly  that  sounded  in  its 
camp  was  a  call  to  sacrifice,  and  not  to  spoils.  It  assembled  about 
an  altar  to  sacrifice,  and  in  a  temple  beset  with  enemies.  It  is 
the  only  political  party  organized  in  America  that  has  its  "  Book 
of  Martyrs. "  On  the  bloody  fields  of  Kansas,  Republicans  died  for 
their  creed,  and  since  then  we  have  put  in  that  book  the  sacred 
memory  of  our  immortal  leader  who  has  been  mentioned  here  to- 
night— Abraham  Lincoln — who  died  for  his  faith  and  devotion  to 
the  principles  of  human  liberty  and  constitutional  union.  And 
there  have  followed  it  a  great  army  of  men  who  have  died  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  they  adhered  to  the  political  creed  that  we  loved. 
It  is  the  only  party  in  this  land  which  in  the  past  has  been  pro- 
scribed and  persecuted  to  death  for  its  allegiance  to  the  principles 
of  human  liberty.  After  Lincoln  had  triumphed  in  that  great 
forum  of  debate  in  his  contest  with  Douglas,  the  Republican  party 
carried  that  debate  from  the  hustings  to  the  battle-field  and  forever 
established  the  doctrine  that  human  liberty  is  of  natural  right 
and  universal.  It  clinched  the  matchless  logic  of  Webster  in  his 
celebrated  debate  against  the  right  of  secession  by  a  demonstration 
of  its  inability. 

No  party  ever  entered  upon  its  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
this  Nation  under  circumstances  so  beset  with  danger  and  diffi- 
culty as  those  which  surrounded  the  Republican  party  when  it  took 
up  the  reins  of  executive  control.  In  all  other  political  contests 
those  who  had  resisted  the  victorious  party  yielded  acquiescence 
at  the  polls,  but  the  Republican  party  in  its  success  was  confronted 
by  armed  resistance  to  national  authority.  The  first  acts  of  Re- 
publican administration  were  to  assemble  armies  to  maintain  the 
authority  of  the  Nation  throughout  the  rebellious  States.  It  organ- 
ized armies,  it  fed  them,  and  it  fought  them  through  those  years 
of  war  with  an  undying  and  persistent  faith  that  refused  to  be 
appalled  by  any  dangers  or  discouraged  by  any  difficulties.  In  the 
darkest  days  of  the  rebellion  the  Republican  party  by  faith  saw 
Appomattox  through  the  smoke  of  Bull  Run,  and  Raleigh  through 
the  mists  of  Chiekamaiiga  ;  and  not  only  did  it  conduct  this  great 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  19 

civil  war  to  a  victorious  end,  not  only  did  it  restore  the  national 
authority  and  set  up  the  flag  on  all  those  places  where  it  had  been 
overthrown  and  that  flag  torn  down,  but  it  in  the  act  and  as  an 
incident  in  the  restoration  of  national  authority  accomplished  that 
act  which,  if  no  other  had  been  recorded  in  its  history,  would  have 
given  it  immortality.  The  emancipation  of  a  race,  brought  about 
as  an  incident  of  war  under  the  proclamation  of  the  first  Repub- 
lican President,  has  forever  immortalized  the  party  that  accom- 
plished it. 

But  not  only  were  these  dangers  and  difficulties  and  besetments 
and  discouragements  of  this  long  strife  at  home,  but  there  was 
also  a  call  for  the  highest  statesmanship  in  dealing  with  the  foreign 
affairs  of  the  Government  during  that  period  of  war.  England  and 
France  not  only  gave  to  the  Confederacy  belligerent  rights,  but 
threatened  to  extend  recognition,  and  even  armed  intervention. 
There  was  scarcely  a,  higher  achievement  in  the  long  history  of 
brilliant  statesmanship  which  stands  to  the  credit  of  our  party  than 
the  matchless  management  of  our  diplomatic  relations  during  the 
period  of  our  war ;  dignified,  yet  reserved,  masterful,  yet  patient. 
Those  enemies  of  republican  liberty  were  held  at  bay  until  we  had 
accomplished  perpetual  peace  at  Appomattox.  That  grasping 
avarice  which  has  attempted  to  coin  commercial  advantages  out  of 
the  distress  of  other  nations  which  has  so  often  characterized 
English  diplomacy  naturally  made  the  Government  of  England 
the  ally  of  the  Confederacy,  that  had  prohibited  protective  duties 
in  its  constitution,  and  yet  Geneva  followed  Appomattox.  A  trinity 
of  effort  was  -  necessary  to  that  consummation — war,  finance  and 
diplomacy ;  Grant,  Chase,  Seward,  and  Lincoln  over  all,  and  each 
a  victor  in  his  own  sphere.  When  500, 000  veterans  found  themselves 
without  any  pressing  engagement,  and  Phil  Sheridan  sauntered 
down  towards  the  borders  of  Mexico,  French  evacuation  was  ex- 
pedited, and  when  Gen.  Grant  advised  the  English  Government  that 
our  claims  for  the  depredations  committed  by  those  rebel  cruisers 
that  were  sent  out  from  British  ports  to  prey  upon  our  commerce 
must  be  paid,  but  that  we  were  not  in  a  hurry  about  it — we  could 
wait,  but  in  the  mean  time  interest  would  accumulate — the  Geneva 
arbitration  was  accepted  and  compensation  made  for  these  un- 
friendly invasions  of  our  rights.  It  became  fashionable  again  at 
the  tables  of  the  English  nobility  to  speak  of  our  common  ancestry 
and  our  common  tongue.  Then  a,gain  France  began  to  remind  us 
of  La  Fayette  and  De  Grasse.  Five  hundred  thousand  veteran  troops 
and  an  unemployed  navy  did  more  for  us  than  a  common  tongue 
and  ancient  friendships  would  do  in  the  time  of  our  distress.  And 


20  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  often  easier  to  assemble  armies  than 
it  is  to  assemble  army  revenues.  Though  no  financial  secretary 
ever  had  laid  upon  him  a  heavier  burden  than  was  placed  upon 
Salmon  P.  Chase  to  provide  the  enormous  expenditures  which  the 
maintenance  of  our  army  required,  this  ceaseless,  daily,  gigantic 
drain  upon  the  National  Treasury  called  for  the  highest  statesman- 
ship. 

And  it  was  found,  and  our  credit  was  not  only  maintained  through 
the  war,  but  the  debt  that  was  accumulated,  which  our  Democratic 
friends  said  could  never  be  paid,  we  at  once  began  to  discharge  when 
the  army  was  disbanded. 

And  so  it  is  that  in  this  timely  effort — consisting  first  in  this 
appeal  to  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  the  people  of  this  country 
that  responded  to  the  call  of  Lincoln  and  filled  our  armies  with 
brave  men  that,  under  the  leadership  of  Grant  and  Sherman  and 
Thomas,  suppressed  the  rebellion,  and  under  the  wise,  magnificent 
system  of  our  revenue  enabled  us  to  defray  our  expenses,  and  under 
the  sagacious  administration  of  our  State  Department  held  Europe 
at  bay  while  we  were  attending  to  the  business  at  home.  In  these 
departments  of  administration  the  Republican  party  has  shown 
itself  conspicuously  able  to  deal  with  the  greatest  questions  that 
have  ever  been  presented  to  American  statesmanship  for  solution. 
We  must  not  forget  that  in  dealing  with  these  questions  we  were 
met  continually  by  the  protest  and  opposition  of  the  Democratic 
party.  The  war  against  the  States  was  unconstitutional.  There 
was  no  right  to  coerce  sovereign  States.  The  war  was  a  failure, 
and  a  dishonorable  peace  was  demanded.  The  legal  tenders  were 
illegal.  The  constitutional  amendments  were  void.  And  so  through 
this  who]e  brilliant  history  of  achievement  in  this  administration 
we  were  followed  by  the  Democratic  statesman  protesting  against 
every  step  and  throwing  every  impediment  in  the  way  of  National 
success  until  it  seemed  to  be  true  of  many  of  their  leaders  that  in 
their  estimation  nothing  was  lawful,  nothing  was  lovely,  that  did 
not  conduce  to  the  success  of  the  rebellion. 

Now,  what  conclusion  shall  we  draw?  Is  there  anything  in  this 
story,  so  briefly  and  imperfectly  told,  to  suggest  any  conclusion  as 
to  the  inadequacy  or  incompetency  of  the  Republican  party  to  deal 
with  any  question  that  is  now  presented  for  solution  or  that  we 
may  meet  in  the  progress  of  this  people's  history?  Why,  country- 
men, these  problems  in  government  were  new.  We  took  the  ship 
of  state  when  there  was  treachery  at  the  helm,  when  there  was 
mutiny  on  the  deck,  when  the  ship  was  among  the  rocks,  and  we 
put  loyalty  at  the  helm  ;  we  brought  the  deck  into  order  and  sub- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  21 

jection.  We  have  brought  the  ship  into  the  wide  and  open  sea  of 
prosperity,  and  is  it  to  be  suggested  that  the  party  that  has  accom- 
plished these  magnificent  achievements  cannot  sail  and  manage  the 
good  ship  in  the  frequented  roadways  of  ordinary  commerce? 
What  is  there  now  before  us  that  presents  itself  for  solution? 

What  questions  are  we  to  grapple  with?  What  unfinished  work 
remains  to  be  done?  It  seems  to  me  that  the  work  that  is  unfin- 
ished is  to  make  that  constitutional  grant  of  citizenship,  the 
franchise  to  the  colored  men  of  the  South,  a  practical  and  living 
reality.  The  condition  of  things  is  such  in  this  country — a  govern- 
ment by  constitutional  majority — that  whenever  the  people  become 
convinced  that  an  administration  or  a  law  does  not  represent  the 
will  of  the  majority  of  our  qualified  electors,  then  that  administra- 
tion ceases  to  challenge  the  respect  of  our  people  and  that  law 
ceases  to  command  their  willing  obedience.  This  is  a  republican 
government,  a  government  by  majority,  the  majorities  to  be 
ascertained  by  a  fair  count  and  eac\i  elector  expressing  his  will  at 
the  ballot-box.  I  know  of  no  reason  why  any  law  should  bind  my 
conscience  that  does  not  have  this  sanction  behind  it.  I  know  of 
no  reason  why  I  should  yield  respect  to  any  executive  officer  whose 
title  is  not  based  upon  a  majority  vote  of  the  qualified  electors  of 
this  country.  What  is  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Southern 
States  to-day? 

The  Republican  vote  is  absolutely  suppressed.  Elections  in  many 
of  those  States  have  become  a  farce.  In  the  last  congressional 
election  in  the  State  of  Alabama  there  were  several  congressional 
districts  where  the  entire  vote  for  members  of  Congress  did  not 
reach  2, 000 ;  whereas  in  most  of  the  districts  of  the  North  the  vote 
cast  at  our  congressional  elections  goes  from  80, 000  to  50, 000.  I  had 
occasion  to  say  a  day  or  two  ago  that  in  a  single  congressional 
district  in  the  State  of  Nebraska  there  were  more  votes  cast  to 
elect  one  Congressman  than  were  cast  in  the  State  of  Alabama  at  the 
same  election  to  elect  their  whole  delegation.  Out  of  what  does 
this  come  ?  The  suppression  of  the  Republican  vote  ;  the  understand- 
ing among  our  Democratic  friends  that  it  is  not  necessary  that 
they  should  vote  because  their  opponents  are  not  allowed  to  vote. 
But  some  one  will  suggest :  "Is  there  a  remedy  for  this?"  I  do  not 
know,  my  fellow-citizens,  how  far  there  is  a  legal  remedy  under 
our  Constitution,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  an  adequate 
answer.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  conclusive  against  the  agita- 
tion of  the  question  even  if  we  should  be  compelled  to  respond  to 
the  arrogant  question  that  is  asked  us  :  "  What  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it?"  Even  if  we  should  be  compelled  to  answer;  "We 


22  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

can  do  nothing  but  protest,"  is  it  not  worth  while  here,  and  in 
relation  to  this  American  question,  that  we  should  at  least  lift  up 
our  protest ;  that  we  should  at  least  denounce  the  wrong ;  that  we 
should  at  least  deprive  the  perpetrators  of  it  of  "what  we  used  to 
call  the  usufructs  of  the  crime?  If  you  cannot  prevent  a  burglar 
from  breaking  into  your  house  you  will  do  a  great  deal  towards 
discouraging  burglary  if  you  prevent  him  from  carrying  off  any- 
thing, and  so  it  seems  to  me  that  if  we  can,  upon  this  question, 
arouse  the  indignant  protest  of  the  North,  and  unite  our  efforts  in 
a  determination  that  those  who  perpetrate  these  wrongs  against 
popular  suffrage  shall  not  by  means  of  those  wrongs  seat  a  President 
in  Washington  to  secure  the  Federal  patronage  in  a  State,  we  shall 
have  done  much  to  bring  this  wrong  to  an  end.  But  at  least  while 
we  are  protesting  by  representatives  from  our  State  Department  at 
Washington  against  wrongs  perpetrated  in  Russia  against  the  Jew-, 
and  in  our  popular  assemblies  here  against  the  wrongs  which 
England  has  inflicted  upon  Ireland,  shall  we  not  at  least  in  reference 
to  this  gigantic  and  intolerable  wrong  in  our  own  country,  as  a 
party,  lift  up  a  stalwart  and  determined  protest  against  it? 

But.  some  of  these  independent  journalists,  about  which  our 
friend  MacMillan  talked,  call  this  the  "bloody  shirt."  They  say 
we  are  trying  to  revive  the  strife  of  the  war,  to  rake  over  the  ex- 
tinct embers,  to  kindle  the  fire  again.  I  want  it  understood  that 
for  one  I  have  no  quarrel  with  the  South  for  what  took  place 
between  1861  and  1865.  I  am  willing  to  forget  that  they  were 
rebels,  at  least  as  soon  as  they  are  willing  to  forget  it  themselves, 
and  that  time  does  not  seem  to  have  come  yet  to  them.  But  our 
complaint  is  against  what  was  done  in  1884,  not  against  what  was 
done  during  the  war.  Our  complaint  is  against  what  will  be  done 
this  year,  not  what  w^as  done  between  1861  and  1865.  No  bloody 
shirt — though  that  cry  never  had  any  terrors  for  me.  I  believe  we 
greatly  underestimate  the  importance  of  bringing  the  issue  to  the 
front,  and  with  that  oft-time  Republican  courage  and  outspoken 
fidelity  to  truth  denouncing  it  the  land  over.  If  we  cannot  do 
anything  else  we  can  either  make  these  people  ashamed  of  this 
outrage  against  the  ballot  or  make  the  world  ashamed  of  them. 

There  is  another  question  to  which  the  Republican  party  has 
committed  itself,  and  on  the  line  of  wrhich  it  has  accomplished, 
as  I  believe,  much  for  the  prosperity  of  this  country.  I-  believe 
the  Republican  party  is  pledged  and  ought  to  be  pledged  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  protection  of  American  industries  and  American  labor. 
I  believe  that  in  so  far  as  our  native  inventive  genius — which  seems 
to  have  no  limit — our  productive  forces  can  supply  the  American 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  23 

market,  wo  ought  to  keep  it  for  ourselves.  And  yet  this  new  cap- 
tain on  the  bridge  sterns  to  congratulate  himself  on  the  fact  that 
the  voyage  is  still  prosperous  notwithstanding  the  change  of  com- 
manders ;  who  seems  to  forget  that  the  reason  that  the  voyage  is 
still  prosperous  is  because  the  course  of  the  ship  was  marked  out 
before  he  went  on  the  bridge  and  the  rudder  tied  down.  He  has 
attempted  to  take  a  new  direction  since  he  has  been  in  command, 
with  a  view  of  changing  the  sailing  course  of  the  old  craft,  but  it 
lias  seemed  to  me  that  he  has  made  the  mistake  of  mistaking  the 
flashlight  Of  some  British  lighthouse  for  the  light  of  day.  I  do 
not  intend  here  to-night  in  this  presence  to  discuss  this  tariff  ques- 
tion in  any  detail.  I  only  want  to  say  that  in  the  passage  of  what 
is  now  so  flippantly  called  the  war  tariff,  to  raise  revenue  to  carry 
on  the  war  out  of  the  protective  duties  which  were  then  levied, 
there  has  come  to  this  country  a  prosperity  and  development  which 
would  have  been  impossible  without  it,  and  that  reversal  of  this 
policy  now,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  according  to  the  line 
of  the  blind  statesman  from  Texas,  would  be  to  stay  and  interrupt 
this  march  of  prosperity  on  which  we  have  entered.  I  am  one  of 
those  uninstructed  political  economists  that  have  an  impression 
that  some  things  may  be  too  cheap ;  that  I  cannot  find  myself  in 
full  sympathy  with  this  demand  for  cheaper  coats,  which  seems  to 
me  necessarily  to  involve  a  cheaper  man  and  woman  under  the 
coat.  I  believe  it  is  true  to  day  that  we  have  many  things  in  this 
country  that  are  too  cheap,  because  whenever  it  is  proved  that  the 
man  or  woman  who  produces  any  article  cannot  get  a  decent  living 
out  of  it,  then  it  is  too  cheap. 

But  I  have  not  intended  to  discuss  in  detail  any  o'f  these  questions 
with  which  we  have  grappled,  upon  which  we  have  proclaimed  a 
policy,  or  which  we  must  meet  in  the  near  future.  I  am  only  here 
to-night  briefly  to  sketch  to  you  the  magnificent  career  of  this  party 
to  which  we  give  our  allegiance — a  union  of  the  States,  restored, 
cemented,  regenerated  ;  a  Constitution  cleansed  of  its  compromises 
with  slavery  and  brought  into  harmony  with  the  immortal  Declara- 
tion ;  a  race  emancipated,  given  citizenship  and  the  ballot ;  a 
national  credit  preserved  and  elevated  until  it  stands  unequalled 
among  the  nations  of  the  world  •  a  currency  more  prized  than  the 
coin  for  which  it  may  be  exchanged ;  a  story  of  prosperity  more 
marvellous  than  was  ever  written  by  the  historian  before.  This  is 
in  brief  outline  the  magnificent  way  in  which  the  Republican 
party  has  wrought.  It  stands  to-day  for  a  pure,  equal,  honest 
ballot  the  country  over.  It  stands  to-day  without  prejudice  or 
malice,  the  well-wisher  of  every  State  in  this  Union ;  disposed  to 


24  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

fill  all  the  streams  of  the  South  with  prosperity,  and  demanding 
only  that  the  terms  of  the  surrender  at  Appomattox  shall  be  com- 
plied with.  When  that  magnificent  act  of  clemency  was  wit- 
nessed, when  those  sublime  and  gracious  words  were  uttered  by 
General  Grant  at  Appomattox,  the  country  applauded.  We  said 
to  those  misguided  men:  "Go  home" — in  the  language  of  the 
parole — "and  you  shall  be  unmolested  while  you  obey  the  laws  in 
force  at  the  place  where  you  reside. "  We  ask  nothing  more  ,  but 
we  cannot  quietly  submit  to  the  fact,  while  it  is  true  everywhere 
in  the  United  States  that  the  man  who  fought  for  years  against  his 
country  is  allowed  the  full,  free,  unrestricted  exercise  of  his  new 
citizenship,  when  it  shall  not  also  be  true  everywhere  that  every 
man  who  followed  Lincoln  in  his  political  views,  and  every  soldier 
who  fought  to  uphold  the  flag,  shall  in  the  same  full,  ample  manner 
be  secured  in  his  political  rights. 

This  disfranchisement  question  is  hardly  a  Southern  question  in 
all  strictness.  It  has  gone  into  Dakota,  and  the  intelligent  and 
loyal  population  of  that  Territory  is  deprived,  was  at  the  last  elec- 
tion, and  will  be  again,  of  any  participation  in  the  decision  of 
national  questions  solely  because  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 
Dakota  is  Republican.  Not  only  that,  but  this  disregard  of  purity 
and  honesty  in  our  elections  invaded  Ohio  in  an  attempt  to  seize 
the  United  States  Senate  by  cheating  John  Sherman,  that  gallant 
statesman,  out  of  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  And  it  came  here  to 
Illinois,  in  an  attempt  also  to  defeat  that  man  whom  I  loved  so 
much,  John  A.  Logan,  out  of  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
And  it  has  come  into  our  own  State  (Indiana)  by  tally -sheet  frauds, 
committed  by  Individuals,  it  is  true,  but  justified  and  defended 
by  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  in  an  attempt  to  cheat  us  all 
out  of  our  fair  election  majorities.  It  was  and  is  a  question  that 
lies  over  every  other  question,  for  every  other  question  must  be 
submitted  to  this  tribunal  for  decision,  and  if  the  tribunal  is  cor 
rupted,  why  shall  we  debate  questions  at  all?  Who  can  doubt 
whether,  in  defeat  or  victorious,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  taking 
high  ground  upon  all  these  questions,  the  same  stirring  cause  that 
assembled  our  party  in  the  beginning  will  yet  be  found  drawing  like 
a  great  magnet  the  young  and  intelligent  moral  elements  of  our 
country  into  the  Republican  organization?  Defeated  once,  we  are 
ready  for  this  campaign  which  is  impending,  and  I  believe  that 
the  great  party  of  1860  is  gathering  together  for  the  com  ing  election 
with  a  force  and  a  zeal  and  a  resolution  that  will  inevitably  carry 
it,  under  that  standard-bearer  who  may  be  chosen  here  in  June,  to 
victory  in  November. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  25 

INDIANAPOLIS,  JUNE  25,  1888. 
Nomination  Day. 

A  FEW  hours  after  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  nomina- 
tion of  General  Harrison  for  President,  on  Monday,  June 
25,  1888,  delegations  from  neighboring  cities  and  towns 
began  to  arrive  to  congratulate  him.  From  the  moment 
the  result  at  Chicago  was  known,  and  for  two  days  there- 
after, the  city  of  Indianapolis  was  the  scene  of  excitement 
and  enthusiasm  unparalleled  in  its  history. 

The  first  out-of-town  delegation  to  arrive  was  the  Re- 
publican Club  of  Danville,  Hendricks  County,  Indiana, 
three  hundred  strong,  led  by  the  Hon.  L.  M.  Campbell, 
Rev.  Ira  J.  Chase,  Major  J.  B.  Homan,  Joel  T.  Baker, 
Capt.  Worrel,  and  E.  Hogate. 

They  came  on  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-fifth  and 
marched  to  the  Harrison  residence  escorted  by  about  five 
thousand  excited  citizens  of  Indianapolis,  and  it  was  to 
these  men  of  Hendricks  that  General  Harrison  made  his  first 
public  speech — after  his  nomination — which  proved  to  be 
the  opening  words  of  a  series  of  impromptu  addresses  re- 
markable for  their  eloquence,  conciseness  and  variety,  and 
generally  conceded  by  the  press  of  the  day  to  have  been 
the  most  brilliant  and  successful  campaign  speeches  of  his 
generation. 

To  the  Danville  Club  General  Harrison  said : 

Gentlemen — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  my  Hendricks  County 
friends  for  this  visit  The  trouble  you  have  taken  to  make  this 
call  so  soon  after  information  of  the  result  at  Chicago  reached  you 
induces  me  to  say  a  word  or  two,  though  you  will  not,  of  course, 
expect  any  reference  to  politics  or  any  extended  reference  to  the 
result  at  Chicago.  I  very  highly  appreciate  the  wise,  discreet  and 
affectionate  interest  which  our  delegation  and  the  people  of  In- 
diana have  displayed  in  the  convention  which  has  just  closed  at 
Chicago.  [Cries  of  "Good!"  "Good!"  and  cheers.]  I  accept  your 
visit  to-day  as  an  expression  of  your  confidence  and  respect,  and 
I  thank  you  for  it.  [Great  cheering.] 


26  HARBISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Scarcely  had  the  Danville  visit  concluded  before  another 
organization  from  Hendricks  County  arrived,  the  Republi- 
can Club  of  Plainfield,  led  by  Dr.  Harlan,  William  G. 
Ellis,  Oscar  Hadley,  and  A.  T.  Harrison. 

Responding  to  their  call,  General  Harrison  said : 

Gentlemen — I  can  only  thank  you  for  this  evidence  of  your 
friendliness.  That  so  many  of  my  Hendricks  County  friends  should 
have  reached  Indianapolis  so  soon,  after  hearing  the  result  at 
Chicago  is  very  gratifying.  The  people  of  your  county  have 
always  given  me  the  most  hearty  support  whenever  I  have  appealed 
to  them  for  support.  I  have  a  most  affectionate  interest  in  your 
county  and  in  its  people,  especially  because  of  the  fact  that  it  fur- 
nished two  companies  to  the  regiment  which  I  took  into  the  field. 
Some  of  the  best  and  most  loyal  of  these  soldiers  gave  their  lives 
for  their  country  in  the  battles  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged. 
These  incidents  have  attached  me  to  the  county,  and  I  trust  I  have 
yet,  even  here  among  this  group,  some  of  my  friends  of  the  Seven- 
tieth Indiana  surviving,  who  will  always  be  glad  to  extend  to  me, 
as  I  to  them,  a  comrade's  hand.  I  thank  you  for  this  call. 

A  few  moments  later  two  large  delegations  arrived  from 
Hamilton  and  Howard  Counties :  Hon.  J.  R,  Gray  of 
Noblesville  and  Milton  Garrigus  of  Kokomo  delivered 
congratulatory  addresses  on  behalf  of  their  townsmen,  to 
which  General  Harrison  responded  : 

I  thank  you,  my  friends  of  Hamilton  County,  for  this  call.  I 
know  the  political  steadfastness  of  that  true  and  tried  county. 
Your  people  have  always  been  kind  to  me.  I  thank  you  for  this 
evidence  of  your  confidence  and  respect. 

Howard  County.  Of  that  county  I  may  say  what  I  have  said  of 
Hamilton  County.  It  is  a  neighbor  in  location  and  it  is  a  neigh- 
bor in  good  works.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-fifth  five  thousand  or  more 
neighbors  and  residents  of  the  city  congregated  before  the 
Harrison  residence. 

The  General,  on  appearing,  was  greeted  by  a  demon- 
stration lasting  several  minutes.  The  standard-bearers, 
carrying  the  great  banner  of  the  Oliver  P.  Morton  Club, 
made  their  way  to  the  steps  and  held  the  flag  over  his 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  27 

head.     Hon.  W.  N.  Harding  finally  quieted  the  crowd  and 
presented  General  Harrison,  who  spoke  as  follows : 

Neighbors  and  Friends — I  am  profoundly  sensible  of  the  kindness 
which  you  evidence  to  night  in  gathering  in  such  large  numbers 
to  extend  to  me  your  congratulations  over  the  result  at  Chicago.  It 
would  be  altogether  inappropriate  that  I  should  say  anything  of  a 
partisan  character.  Many  of  my  neighbors  who  differ  with  me 
politically  have  kindly  extended  to  me,  as  citizens  of  Indianapolis, 
their  congratulations  over  this  event.  [Cries  of  "Good  !"  "Good  !"J 
Such  congratulations,  as  well  as  those  of  my  neighbors  who  sym- 
pathize with  me  in  my  political  beliefs,  are  exceedingly  grateful. 
I  have  been  a  long  time  a  resident  of  Indianapolis — over  thirty 
years.  Many  who  are  here  before  me  have  been  with  me,  during 
all  those  years,  citizens  of  this  great  and  growing  capital  of  a  mag- 
nificent State.  We  have  seen  the  development  and  growth  of 
this  city.  We  are  proud  of  its  position  to-day,  and  we  look 
forward  in  the  future  to  a  development  which  shall  far  outstrip 
that  which  the  years  behind  us  have  told.  I  thank  you  sincerely 
for  this  evidence  that  those  who  have  known  me  well  and  long 
give  me  still  their  confidence  and  respect.  [Cheers  and  applause.] 

Kings  sometimes  bestow  decorations  upon  those  whom  they 
desire  to  honor,  but  that  man  is  most  highly  decorated  who  has 
the  affectionate  regard  of  his  neighbors  and  friends.  [Great 
applause,  and  cries  of  "Hurrah  for  Harrison  !"]  I  will  only  again 
thank  you  most  cordially  for  this  demonstration  of  your  regard. 
I  shall  be  glad,  from  time  to  time,  as  opportunity  offers,  to  meet 
you  all  personally,  and  regret  that  to-night  this  crowd  is  so  great 
that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  take  each  one  of  you  by  the 
hand  [cries  of  "We'll  forgive  you!"],  but  we  will  be  here  together 
and  my  house  will  always  open  its  doors  gladly  to  any  of  you  when 
you  may  desire  to  see  me.  [Great  cheering.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JUNE  26. 

THE  evening  of  the  day  following  his  nomination  Gen- 
eral Harrison  was  visited  by  the  surviving  members  of  his 
old  regiment,  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Volunteers,  led  by 
Major  George  "W.  Grubbs  of  Martinsville.  There  was 
also  present  a  delegation  from  Boone  County  headed  by  the 
Hon.  Henry  L.  Bynum,  O.  P.  Mahan  and  S.  J.  Thomp- 


28  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

son;  also  the  returning  delegates  from  Vermont  to  the 
Chicago  convention,  headed  by  Gov.  Redfield  Proctor  and 
General  J.  G.  McCullough. 

Responding  to  the  address  of  Major  Grubbs,  on  behalf 
of  the  veterans,  General  Harrison  said : 

Comrades— Called,  as  I  have  been,  by  the  national  convention  of 
one  of  the  great  political  parties  of  this  country  to  be  its  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  it  will  probably  be  my  fortune  before  the  elec- 
tion to  receive  many  delegations  representing  various  interests  and 
classes  of  our  fellow-citizens,  but  I  am  sure  that  out  of  them  all 
there  will  come  none  whose  coming  will  touch  my  heart  so  deeply 
as  this  visit  from  my  comrades  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  and  these 
scattered  members  of  the  other  regiments  that  constituted  the  First 
Brigade  of  the  Third  Division  of  the  Tweutietli  Army  Corps.  I 
recall  the  scene  to  which  Major  Grubbs  has  alluded.  I  remember 
that  summer  day,  when,  equipped  and  armed,  we  were  called  to 
leave  our  homes  and  cross  the  Ohio  River  and  enter  the  territory 
that  was  in  arms  against  the  Government  which  we  were  sworn  to 
support.  I  recall,  with  you,  the  tender  parting,  the  wringing  of 
hearts  with  which  we  left  those  we  loved.  I  recall  the  high  and 
buoyant  determination,  the  resolute  carriage  with  which  you  went 
to  do  your  part  in  the  work  of  suppressing  the  great  rebellion.  I 
remember  the  scenes  through  which  we  went  in  that  hard  discipline 
of  service  and  sickness,  and  all  of  those  hard  incidents  which  are 
necessary  to  convert  citizens  into  veterans. 

I  remember  the  scenes  of  battle  in  which  we  stood  together.  I  re- 
member especially  that  broad  and  deep  grave  at  the  foot  of  the  Resaca 
hill  where  we  left  those  gallant  comrades  who  fell  in  that  desper- 
ate charge.  I  remember,  through  it  all,  the  gallantry,  devotion 
and  steadfastness,  the  high  set  patriotism  you  always  exhibited. 
I  remember  how,  after  sweeping  down  with  Sherman  from  Chatta- 
nooga to  the  sea  and  up  again  through  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia, 
you,  with  those  gallant  armies  that  had  entered  the  gate  of  the 
South  by  Louisville  and  Vicksburg,  marched  in  the  great  review 
up  the  grand  avenue  of  our  Nation's  capital. 

I  remember  that  proud  scene  of  which  we  were  part  that  day  ; 
the  glad  rejoicing  as  our  faces  were  turned  homeward,  the  applause 
which  greeted  us  as  the  banner  of  our  regiment  was  now  and  then 
recognized  by  some  home  friends  who  had  gathered  to  see  us— the 
whole  course  of  these  incidents  of  battle,  of  sickness,  of  death,  of 
victory,  crowned  thus  by  the  triumphant  reassertion  of  national 
authority,  and  by  the  muster  out  and  our  return  to  those  homes 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  29 

that  we  loved,  made  again  secure  against  all  the  perils  which  had 
threatened  them. 

I  feel  that  in  this  campaign  upon  which  I  am  entering,  and 
which  will  undoubtedly  cause  careful  scrutiny,  perhaps  unkind  and 
even  malicious  assault,  all  that  related  to  my  not  conspicuous  but 
loyal  services  with  you  in  the  army  I  may  confidently  leave,  with 
my  honor,  in  the  hands  of  the  surviving  members  of  the  Seventieth 
Indiana,  whatever  their  political  faith  may  be.  [Cries  of  "  That  is 
true,  General!"  and  "Yes!"  "Yes!"] 

May  I  ask  you  now,  for  I  am  too  deeply  moved  by  this  visit  to 
speak  as  I  would  desire,  that  each  one  will  enter  this  door,  that 
will  always  open  with  a  hearty  welcome  to  you,  and  let  me  take 
you  by  the  hand?  [Cheering.] 

The  event  of  the  night  was  the  visit  of  the  California 
delegation,  at  ten  o'clock,  accompanied  by  the  Indiana 
delegation  to  Chicago  and  several  hundred  personal  friends 
and  neighbors  of  General  Harrison  just  returned  from 
Chicago,  where  they  had  been  laboring  for  his  nomination. 

The  Hon.  M.  H.  de  Young  and  John  F.  Ellison  of  Cali- 
fornia delivered  congratulatory  addresses,  on  conclusion  of 
which  the  Californians  hastened  to  their  train ;  after  they 
departed  the  great  crowd  refused  to  disperse  and  called 
repeatedly  for  General  Harrison,  who  responded  as 
follows : 

Fellow-Citizens,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  am  very  deeply  im- 
pressed and  gratified  with  this  magnificent  demonstration  of  your 
respect.  No  man  can  be  so  highly  honored  by  any  convention,  or 
by  any  decoration  which  any  of  the  authorities  of  the  Government 
can  bestow,  as  by  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those  who  live  near 
him.  My  heart  is  touched  by  this  demonstration  which  my  fellow  - 
citizens  have  given  me  of  their  personal  respect  for  me.  I  do  not, 
however,  accept  this  manifestation  of  interest  as  wholly  due  to 
myself.  The  great  bulk  of  those  who  are  assembled  here  to-night 
manifest  rather  their  interest  in  those  political  principles  which  I 
have  been  called  by  the  representatives,  in  national  convention  of 
the  Republican  party,  to  represent  in  this  campaign.  But  I  will 
not  discuss  any  of  those  high  issues  to-night,  because  I  am  glad  to 
know  that  among  those  who  are  gathered  here,  and  among  those 
who  have  paid  me  the  compliment  of  their  presence  in  my  home, 
there  are  many  citizens  of  Indianapolis  who  differ  with  me  politi- 


30  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

cally.  I  would  not,  therefore,  if  it  were  otherwise  proper,  mar 
this  occasion  by  the  discussion  of  any  political  topic.  I  am  glad 
to  have  an  opportunity  to  return  my  sincere  and  heartfelt  thanks 
to  the  Indiana  delegation,  and  to  that  band  of  devoted  friends  who 
gathered  about  them  and  assisted  them  in  their  work  at  Chicago. 
When  I  saw  in  the  newspaper  press  of  the  East  and  of  the  West  the 
encomiums  that  were  passed  by  the  correspondents  upon  the  deport- 
ment and  character  of  the  representatives  of  Indiana  at  Chicago, 
I  was  greatly  pleased.  When  I  heard  of  their  affectionate  de- 
votion, of  their  discreet  and  wise  presentation  of  the  claims  of 
Indiana,  I  was  still  farther  gratified.  And  if  the  result  of  that 
convention  had  been,  as  it  well  might  have  been  if  individuals 
had  only  been  considered  in  the  contest  that  was  there  waged,  the 
selection  for  this  high  place  of  some  one  other  than  myself,  I 
should  have  felt  that  the  devoted  interest,  the  wise  and  faithful 
presentation  by  the  Indiana  delegation  of  the  Indiana  situation 
was  such  that  the  failure  to  yield  to  their  argument  would  still 
have  left  me  crowned  with  the  highest  crown  that  can  be  placed 
upon  mortal  brow — the  affection  and  confidence  and  discreet  sup- 
port of  my  friends  from  Indiana.  [Cries  of  "Good  !"  "Good  !"]  I 
am  glad  that  the  despatches  said  of  them,  and  truly  said,  that  they 
conducted  their  canvass  with  that  gentle  and  respectful  regard  to 
the  interests  and  character  of  the  others  who  were  named  for  this 
high  place,  and  that  they  came  home  without  those  regrets  which 
must  have  followed  if  this  ATictory  had  been  won  at  the  expense  of 
any  of  those  noble  names  that  were  presented  for  the  suffrage  of 
the  convention. 

I  do  not  feel  at  all  that  in  selecting  the  candidate  who  was 
chosen  regard  was  had  simply  to  the  individual  equipment  and 
qualifications  for  the  duties  of  this  high  office.  I  feel  sure  that  if 
the  convention  had  felt  free  to  regard  these  things*  only,  some  other 
of  those  distinguished  men,  old-time  leaders  of  the  Republican 
party,  Blaine,  or  Sherman,  or  Allison,  or  some  of  the  others  named — 
would  have  b9en  chosen  in  preference  to  me.  I  feel  that  it  was  the 
situation  in  Indiana  and  its  relation  to  the  campaign  that  was  im- 
pending rather  than  the  personal  equipment  or  qualifications  of  the 
candidate  that  was  chosen  that  turned  the  choice  of  the  convention 
in  our  direction.  We  are  here  to-night  to  thank  those  members  of 
the  convention  who  have  done  us  the  honor  to  pay  our  capital  a  visit 
to-night  not  only  for  this  visit,  but  for  the  support  and  interest  which 
they  took  in  the  Indiana  candidacy  in  the  convention  at  Chicago.  I 
thank  you  again  for  gathering  here  to-night.  I  am  sure  that  in 
this  demonstration  you  give  evidence  that  the  interest  in  this  cam- 


HARKISON'S  SPEECHES.  31 

paign  will  not  flag  until  the  election  has  determined  the  result  of 
the  contest.  And  I  feel  sure,  too,  my  fellow -citizens,  that  we  have 
joined  now  a  contest  of  great  principles,  and  that  the  armies  which 
are  to  fight  out  this  great  contest  before  the  American  people  will 
encamp  upon  the  high  plains  of  principle,  and  not  in  the  low 
swamps  of  personal  defamation  or  detraction.  [Cries  of  "  Hear  1" 
"Hear!"  and  "Good  !"]  Again  I  thank  you  for  the  compliment  of 
your  presence  here  to-night,  and  bid  you  good-night.  [Great 
cheering.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JUNE  30. 

DURING  the  afternoon  representatives  of  the  Marquette 
Club  of  Chicago— of  which  General  Harrison  is  an  honor- 
ary member — called  to  present  a  set  of  congratulatory 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  club.  The  committee  comprised 
Geo.  V.  Lauman,  H.  D.  Crocker,  W.  S.  Gilbert,  E.  B. 
Gould,  H.  M.  Kingman  and  J.  S.  Moore. 

One  of  the  resolutions  recited  that 

"  The  Marquette  Club  of  Chicago  takes  great  pride  in 
the  fact  that  within  its  walls  and  at  its  board  was  fired  the 
first  gun  in  Chicago  of  that  memorable  contest  which 
has  culminated  in  the  nomination  of  its  most  honored 
member,  General  Benjamin  Harrison,  to  fill  the  highest 
office  within  the  gift  of  the  American  people." 

General  Harrison  in  response  said  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Marquette  Club — I  sincerely  thank  you  for  the 
congratulations  of  the  Marquette  Club  of  Chicago.  I  well  recol- 
lect the  evening  I  spent  with  you  last  February,  and  I  remember 
how  favorably  your  club  impressed  me  at  that  time  as  a  body  of 
active,  energetic  young  Republicans :  not  so  much  an  organization 
for  social  purposes  as  for  active  advancement  of  Republican  prin- 
ciples in  your  vicinity,  and  in  the  country  as  well.  I  thought  I 
recognized  in  you  then  an  efficient  body  for  work  in  the  State  of 
Illinois,  one  that  could  in  the  coming  campaign  render  signal  ser- 
vice to  the  party  whose  principles  its  members  maintain.  I  rejoice 
in  your  coming  to  call  on  me  here,  and  I  hope  you  will  carry  my 
sincere  thanks  to  your  members,  and  make  yourselves  welcome 
at  mv  home  now  and  whenever  you  are  in  Indianapolis. 


32  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

On  the  evening  of  June  30  several  thousand  citizens, 
irrespective  of  party,  paid  their  respects  to  General  Har- 
rison ;  at  the  head  of  the  column  marched  four  hundred 
veterans  commanded  by  Moses  G.  McLain.  Major  James 
L.  Mitchell,  a  prominent  Democrat,  was  spokesman  for 
the  veterans. 

General  Harrison,  responding,  said : 

Comrade  Mitchell  and  Fellow -Soldiers— I  sincerely  thank  you  for 
this  evidence  of  your  respect  and  comradeship.  I  am  very  certain 
that  there  is  no  class  whose  confidence  and  respect  I  more  highly 
prize  or  more  earnestly  covet  than  that  of  the  soldiers  who,  in  the 
great  war  from  1861  to  1865,  upheld  the  loved  banner  of  our  country 
and  brought  it  home  in  honor.  The  comradeship  of  the  war  will 
never  end  until  our  lives  end.  The  fires  in  which  our  friendship 
was  riveted  and  welded  were  too  hot  for  the  bond  ever  to  be 
broken.  We  sympathize  with  each  other  in  the  glory  of  the  com- 
mon cause  for  which  we  fought.  We  went,  not  as  partisans,  but 
as  patriots,  into  the  strife  which  involved  the  national  life.  I  am 
sure  that  no  army  was  ever  assembled  in  the  world's  history  that 
was  gathered  from  higher  impulses  than  the  army  of  the  Union. 
[Cries  of  "Right!"  "Right!"] 

It  was  no  sordid  impulse,  no  hope  of  spoils  that  induced  these 
men  to  sunder  the  tender  associations  of  home  and  forsake  their 
business  pursuits  to  look  into  the  grim  face  of  death  with  un- 
blanched  cheeks  and  firm  and  resolute  eyes.  They  are  the  kind  of 
men  who  draw  their  impulses  from  the  high  springs  of  truth  and 
duty.  The  army  was  great  in  its  assembling.  It  came  with  an 
impulse  that  was  majestic  and  terrible.  It  was  as  great  in  its 
muster-out  as  in  the  brilliant  work  which  had  been  done  in  the 
field.  When  the  war  was  over  the  soldier  was  not  left  at  the  tav- 
ern. Every  man  had  in  some  humble  place  a  chair  by  some  fire- 
side where  he  was  loved  and  towards  which  his  heart  went  forward 
with  a  quick  step.  [Applause.] 

And  so  this  great  army  that  had  rallied  for  the  defence  and  pres- 
ervation of  the  country  was  disbanded  without  tumult  or  riot  or 
any  public  disturbance.  It  had  covered  the  country  with  the  man- 
tle of  its  protection  when  it  needed  it,  as  the  snows  of  spring  cover 
the  early  vegetation,  and  when  the  warm  sun  of  peace  shone  upon 
it,  it  disappeared  as  the  snow  sinks  into  the  earth  to  refresh 
and  vivify  the  summer  growth.  They  found  their  homes ;  they 
carried  their  brawn  and  intellect  into  all  the  pursuits  of  peace  to 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  33 

stimulate  them  and  lift  them  up ;  they  added  their  great  impulse 
to  that  great  wave  of  prosperity  which  has  swept  over  our  country 
ever  since.  [Applause.]  But  in  nothing  was  this  war  greater  than 
in  that  it  led  a  race  into  freedom  and  brought  those  whom  we  had 
conquered  in  the  struggle  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  a  restored  cit- 
izenship, and  shared  again  with  them  the  responsibilities  and 
duties  of  a  restored  government.  [Applause.] 

I  thank  you  to-night  most  sincerely  for  this  evidence  of  your 
comradeship.  I  thank,  specially,  those  friends  who  differ  with  me 
in  their  political  views,  that  they  have  put  these  things  aside 
to-night,  and  have  come  here  to  give  me  a  comrade's  greeting. 
[Applause.]  May  I  have  the  privilege  now,  without  detaining  you 
longer,  of  taking  by  the  hand  every  soldier  here?  [Applause.] 

Later,  the  same  evening,  the  Harrison  League  of 
Indianapolis,  numbering  three  hundred  colored  men,  as- 
sembled on  the  lawn  and  congratulated  the  Republican 
nominee  through  its  spokesman,  Mr.  Ben  D.  Bagby.  Gen- 
eral Harrison's  response  was  as  follow^ : 

Mr.  Bagby  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Harrison  Club — I  assure  you 
that  I  have  a  sincere  respect  for,  and  a  very  deep  interest  in,  the 
colored  people  of  the  United  States.  My  memory,  as  a  boy,  goes 
back  to  the  time  when  slavery  existed  in  the  Southern  States.  I 
was  born  upon  the  Ohio  River,  which  was  the  boundary  between 
the  free  State  of  Ohio  and  the  slave  State  of  Kentucky.  Some  of 
my  earliest  recollections  relate  to  the  stirring  and  dramatic  inter- 
est which  was  now  and  then  excited  by  the  pursuit  of  an  escaping 
slave  for  the  hope  of  offered  rewards. 

I  remember,  as  a  boy,  wandering  once  through  my  grandfather's 
orchard  at  North  Bend,  and  in  pressing  through  an  alder  thicket 
that  grew  on  its  margin  I  saw  sitting  in  its  midst  a  colored  man 
with  the  frightened  look  of  a  fugitive  in  his  eye,  and  attempting 
to  satisfy  his  hunger  with  some  walnuts  he  had  gathered.  He 
noticed  my  approach  with  a  fierce,  startled  look,  to  see  whether  I 
was  likely  to  betray  him ;  I  was  frightened  myself  and  left  him  in 
some  trepidation,  but  I  kept  his  secret.  [Cries  of  "Good!" 
"Good!"]  I  have  seen  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the 
legislation  relating  to  your  race,  and  the  progress  that  the  race 
itself  has  made  since  that  day  When  I  came  to  Indiana  to  reside 
the  unfriendly  black  code  was  in  force.  My  memory  goes  back 
to  the  time  when  colored  witnesses  were  first  allowed  to  appear  in 

court  in  this  State  to  testify  in  cases"  where  white  men  were  par- 
3 


34  HARBISON'S  SPEECHES. 

ties.  Prior  to  that  time,  as  you  know,  you  had  been  excluded 
from  the  right  to  tell  in  court,  under  oath,  your  side  of  the  story  in 
any  legal  controversy  with  white  men.  [Cries  of  "I  know  that!"] 
The  laws  prevented  your  coming  here.  In  every  way  you  were  at 
a  disadvantage,  even  in  the  free  States.  I  have  lived  to  see  this 
unfriendly  legislation  removed  from  our  statute-books  and  the 
unfriendly  section  of  our  State  Constitution  repealed.  I  have  lived 
not  only  to  see  that,  but  to  see  the  race  emancipated  and  slavery 
extinct.  [Cries  of  "Amen  to  that !"] 

Nothing  gives  me  more  pleasure  among  the  results  of  the  war 
than  this.  History  will  give  a  prominent  place  in  the  story  of  this 
great  war  to  the  fact  that  it  resulted  in  making  all  men  free,  and 
gave  to  you  equal  civil  rights.  The  imagination  and  art  of  the 
poet,  the  tongue  of  the  orator,  the  skill  of  the  artist  will  be  brought 
under  contribution  to  tell  this  story  of  the  emancipation  of  the 
souls  of  men.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  Amen  !"] 

Nothing  gives  me  so  much  gratification  as  a  Republican  as  to 
feel  that  in  all  the  steps  that  led  to  this  great  result  the  Republican 
party  sympathized  with  you,  pioneered  for  you  in  legislation,  and 
was  the  architect  of  those  great  measures  of  relief  which  have  so 
much  ameliorated  your  condition.  [Applause.  ] 

I  know  nowhere  in  this  country  of  a  monument  that  I  behold 
with  so  much  interest,  that  touches  my  heart  so  deeply,  as  that 
monument  at  Washington  representing  the  Proclamation  of  Eman- 
cipation by  President  Lincoln,  the  kneeling  black  man  at  the  feet 
of  the  martyred  President,  with  the  shackles  falling  from  his 
limbs. 

I  remember  your  faithfulness  during  the  time  of  the  war.  I 
remember  your  faithful  service  to  the  army  as  we  were  advancing 
through  an  unknown  country.  We  could  always  depend  upon  the 
faithfulness  of  the  black  man.  [Cries  of  "Right  you  are!"]  He 
might  be  mistaken,  but  he  was  never  false.  Many  a  time  in  the 
darkness  of  night  have  those  faithful  men  crept  to  our  lines  and 
given  us  information  of  the  approach  of  the  enemj^.  I  shall  never 
forget  a  scene  that  I  saw  wrhen  Sherman's  army  marched  through 
a  portion  of  North  Carolina,  between  Raleigh  and  Richmond, 
where  our  troops  had  never  before  been.  The  colored  people  had 
not  seen  our  flag  since  the  banner  of  treason  had  been  set  up  in  its 
stead.  As  we  were  passing  through  a  village  the  colored  people 
flocked  out  to  see  once  more  the  starry  banner  of  freedom,  the 
emblem,  promise,  and  security  of  their  emancipation.  I  remem- 
ber an  aged  woman,  over  whom  nearly  a  century  of  slavery  must 
have  passed,  pressed  forward  to  see  the  welcome  banner  that  told 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  «'>5 

her  that  her  soul  would  go  over  into  the  presence  of  her  God.  I 
remember  her  exultation  of  spirit  as  she  danced  in  the  dusty  road 
before  our  moving  column,  and,  like  Miriam  of  old,  called  upon 
her  soul  to  rejoice  in  the  deliverance  which  God  had  wrought  by 
the  coming  of  those  who  stood  for  and  made  secure  the  Procla- 
mation of  Emancipation.  [Applause.] 

I  rejoice  in  all  that  you  have  accomplished  since  you  have  been 
free  I  recall  no  scene  more  pathetic  than  that  which  I  have  often 
seen  about  our  camp- tires.  An  aged  man,  a  fugitive  from  slavery, 
had  found  freedom  in  our  camp.  After  a  day  of  hard  work,  when 
taps  had  sounded  and  the  lights  in  the  tents  were  out,  I  have  seen 
him  with  the  spelling-book  that  the  chaplain  had  given  him,  lying 
prone  upon  the  ground  taxing  his  old  eyes,  and  pointing  with  his 
hardened  finger  to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  as  he  endeavored  to 
open  to  his  clouded  brain  the  avenues  of  information  and  light. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  that  same  desire  to  increase  and  enlarge 
your  information  possesses  the  race  to-day.  It  is  the  open  way  for 
the  race  to  that  perfect  emancipation  which  will  remove  remaining 
prejudices  and  secure  to  you  in  all  parts  of  the  land  an  equal  and 
just  participation  in  the  government  of  this  country.  It  cannot 
much  longer  be  withholden  from  you. 

Again  I  thank  you  for  your  presence  here  to-night  and  will  be 
glad  to  take  by  the  hand  any  of  you  who  desire  to  see  me.  [Great 
applause.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  4,  1888. 
The  Notification. 

THE  Indiana  Republican  State  Committee,  through  its 
chairman,  the  Hon.  James  N.  Huston,  designated  as  a  com- 
mittee to  receive  and  escort  the  committee  on  notification 
from  the  National  Convention  the  following  gentlemen : 

Ex-Gov.  Albert  G.  Porter,  Mayor  Caleb  S.  Denny,  Col. 
John  C.  New,  J.  N.  Huston,  Col.  J.  H.  Bridgland,  Hon. 
Stanton  J.  Peelle,  William  Wallace,  M.  G.  McLain,  N.  S. 
Byram,  Hon.  W.  H.  Calkins,  W.  J.  Richards,  and  Hon. 
H.  M.  LaFollette. 

At  noon  on  July  4  the  notification  committee  represent- 
ing the  Republican  National  Convention  arrived  under 


•'W  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

escort  at  the  residence  of  General  Harrison,  No.  674  Del- 
aware Street.  The  following  delegates  comprised  the 
committee : 

Judge  Morris  M.  Estee  of  California,  Chairman;  Ala- 
bama, A.  H.  Hendricks;  Arkansas,  Logan H.  Roots;  Cali- 
fornia, Paris  Kilburn ;  Colorado,  Henry  R.  Wolcott ;  Con- 
necticut, E.  S.  Henry ;  Delaware,  J.  R.  Whitaker ;  Florida, 
F.  M.  Wicker ;  Georgia,  W.  W.  Brown ;  Illinois,  Thomas 
W.Scott;  Indiana,  J.  N.  Huston;  Iowa,  Thomas  Upde- 
graff ;  Kansas,  Henry  L.  Alden ;  Kentucky,  George  Denny ; 
Louisiana,  Andrew  Hero;  Maine,  Samuel  H.  Allen;  Mary- 
land, Wm.  M.  Marine;  Massachusetts,  F.  L.  Burden; 
Michigan,  Wm.  McPherson ;  Minnesota,  R.  B.  Langdon; 
Mississippi,  T.  W.  Stringer;  Missouri,  A.  W.  Mullins; 
Nebraska,  R.  S.  Norval ;  Nevada,  S.  E.  Hamilton ;  New 
Hampshire,  P.  C.  Cheney;  New  Jersey,  H.  H.  Potter; 
New  York,  Obed  Wheeler ;  North  Carolina,  D.  C.  Pearson ; 
Ohio,  Charles  Foster ;  Oregon,  F.  P.  Mays ;  Pennsylvania, 
Frank  Reeder;  Rhode  Island,  B.  M.  Bosworth;  South 
Carolina,  Paris  Simpkins;  Tennessee,  J.  C.  Dougherty; 
Texas,  E.  H.  Terrell;  Vermont,  Redfield  Proctor;  Vir- 
ginia, Harry  Libby;  West  Virginia,  C.  B.  Smith;  Wis- 
consin, H.  C.  Payne;  Arizona,  Geo.  Christ;  Dakota,  G. 
W.  Hopp ;  Dist.  Columbia,  P.  H.  Carson ;  Idaho,  G.  A. 
Black ;  Montana,  G.  O.  Eaton ;  New  Mexico,  J.  F.  Chavez ; 
Utah,  J.  J.  Daly;  Washington,  T.  H.  Minor;  Wyo- 
ming, C.  D.  Clark. 

Chairman  Estee  spoke  for  the  committee;  his  address 
signed  by  each  member  was  also  presented  to  General 
Harrison,  who  in  a  full,  clear  voice  replied  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee— The  official 
notice  which  you  have  brought  of  the  nomination  conferred  upon 
me  by  the  Republican  National  Convention  recently  in  session  at 
Chicago  excites  emotions  of  a  profound,  though  of  a  somewhat 
conflicting,  character.  That  after  full  deliberation  and  free  con- 
sultation the  representatives  of  the  Republican  party  of  the  United 
States  should  have  concluded  that  the  great  principles  enunciated 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  37 

in  the  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  could  be  in  some  meas- 
ure safely  confided  to  my  care  is  an  honor  of  which  I  am  deeply 
sensible  and  for  which  I  am  very  grateful.  I  do  not  assume  or 
believe  that  this  choice  implies  that  the  convention  found  in  me 
any  pre  eminent  fitness  or  exceptional  fidelity  to  the  principles  of 
government  to  which  we  are  mutually  pledged.  My  satisfaction 
with  the  result  would  be  altogether  spoiled  if  that  result  had  been 
reached  by  any  unworthy  methods  or  by  a  disparagement  of  the 
more  eminent  men  who  divided  with  me  the  suffrages  of  the  con- 
vention. I  accept  the  nomination  with  so  deep  a  sense  of  the  dig- 
nity of  the  office  and  of  the  gravity  of  its  duties  and  the  responsi- 
bilities as  altogether  to  exclude  any  feeling  of  exultation  or  pride. 
The  principle3  of  government  and  the  practices  in  administration 
upon  which  issues  are  now  fortunately  so  clearly  made  are  so 
important  in  their  relations  to  the  national  and  to  individual  pros- 
perity that  we  may  expect  an  unusual  popular  interest  in  the  cam- 
paign, Relying  wholly  upon  the  considerate  judgment  of  our 
fellow-citizens  and  the  gracious  favor  of  God,  we  will  confidently 
submit  our  cause  to  the  arbitrament  of  a  free  ballot. 

The  day  you  have  chosen  for  this  visit  suggests  no  thoughts  that 
are  not  in  harmony  with  the  occasion.  The  Republican  party  has 
walked  in  the  light  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  has  lifted 
the  shaft  of  patriotism  upon  the  foundation  laid  at  Bunker  Hill. 
It  has  made  the  more  perfect  union  secure  by  making  all  men 
free.  Washington  and  Lincoln,  Yorktown  and  Appomattox,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion are  naturally  and  worthily  associated  in  our  thoughts  to-day. 

As  soon  as  may  be  possible  I  shall  by  letter  communicate  to  your 
chairman  a  more  formal  acceptance  of  the  nomination,  but  it  may 
be  proper  for  me  now  to  say  that  I  have  already  examined  the 
platform  with  some  care,  and  that  its  declarations,  to  some  of 
which  your  chairman  has  alluded,  are  in  harmony  with  my  views. 
It  gives  me  pleasure,  gentlemen,  to  receive  you  in  my  home  and  to 
thank  you  for  the  cordial  manner  in  which  you  have  conveyed 
your  official  message. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  formalities  Charles  W.  Clis- 
bee,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  National  Convention, 
presented  the  nominee  an  engrossed  official  copy  of  the 
Republican  platform. 

July  4,  1888,  was  a  memorable  day  in  the  life  of 
General  Harrison  and  his  wife;  for  aside  from  the  official 


38  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

notification  of  his  nomination,  they  were  the  recipients  of 
congratulations  of  a  unique  character  from  the  Tippe- 
canoe  Club  of  Marion  County,  a  political  organization 
composed  exclusively  of  veterans  who  had  voted  for  Gen- 
eral William  Henry  Harrison  in  the  campaigns  of  1830 
or  1840. 

Nearly  all  the  younger  and  able-bodied  members  attended 
the  Chicago  Convention  and  worked  unceasingly  for  the 
nomination  of  General  Benjamin  Harrison. 

Their  average  age  was  seventy-five  years,  while  one 
member,  James  Hubbard  of  Mapleton,  was  over  one  hun- 
dred years  old. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth,  ninety-one  of  these  vet- 
erans commanded  by  their  marshal,  Isaac  Taylor,  marched 
to  General  Harrison's  house  through  the  rain.  They  had 
adopted  a  congratulatory  address  which  was  presented  by 
a  committee  consisting  of  Dr.  George  W.  New,  Judge 
J.  B.  Julian,  and  Dr.  Lawson  Abbett,  to  which  General 
Harrison  feelingly  replied  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Marion 
County — I  am  very  deeply  touched  by  your  visit  to-day.  The 
respect  and  confidence  of  such  a  body  of  men  is  a  crown.  Many 
of  you  I  have  known  since  I  first  came  to  Indianapolis.  I  count 
you  my  friends,  [Cries  of  "Yes,  sir,  we  are!"]  You  have  not 
only  shown  your  friendliness  and  respect  in  the  political  contests 
in  which  my  name  has  been  used,  but  very  many  of  you  in  the 
social  and  business  relations  of  life  extended  to  me,  when  I  came 
a  young  man  among  you,  encouragement  and  help.  I  know  that 
at  the  beginning  your  respect  and  confidence  was  builded  upon 
the  respect,  and  even  affection — may  I  not  say,  which  you  bore  to 
my  grandfather.  [A  voice,  "Yes,  that  is  true  !"]  May  I  not,  with- 
out self -laudation,  now  say  that  upon  that  foundation  you  have 
since  created  a  modest  structure  of  respect  forme?  [Cries  of  "  Yes, 
sir!"  "We  have!"  "That's  the  talk!"]  I  came  among  you  with 
the  heritage,  I  trust,  of  a  good  name  [cries  of  "That's  so!" 
"Good  stock  !"],  such  as  all  of  you  enjoy.  It  was  the  only  inherit- 
ance that  has  been  transmitted  in  our  family.  [Cries  of  "It  has 
been  !"]  I  think  you  recollect,  and,  perhaps,  it  was  that  as  much 
as  aught  else  that  drew  your  choice  in  1840  to  the  Whig  candidate 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  39 

for  the  presidency,  that  he  came  out  of  Virignia  to  the  West  with 
no  fortune  but  the  sword  he  bore,  and  unsheathed  it  here  in  the 
defence  of  our  frontier  homes.  He  transmitted  little  to  his  de- 
scendants but  the  respect  he  had  won  from  his  fellow-citizens.  It 
seems  to  be  the  settled  habit  in  our  family  to  leave  nothing  else  to 
our  children.  [Laughter  and  cries  of  "That's  enough!"]  My 
friends,  I  am  a  thorough  believer  in  the  American  test  of  character 
[cries  of  "That's  right!"]  ;  the  rule  must  be  applied  to  a  man's 
own  life  when  his  stature  is  taken  He  will  not  build  high  who 
does  not  build  for  himself.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "That's  true !''] 
I  believe  also  in  the  American  opportunity  which  puts  the  starry 
sky  above  every  boy's  head,  and  sets  his  foot  upon  a  ladder  which 
he  may  climb  until  his  strength  gives  out. 

I  thank  you  cordially  for  your  greeting,  and  for  this  tender  of 
your  help  in  this  campaign.  It  will  add  dignity  and  strength  to 
the  campaign  when  it  is  found  that  the  zealous,  earnest,  and  intel- 
ligent co-operation  of  men  of  mature  years  like  you  is  given  to  it. 
The  Whig  party  to  which  you  belonged  had  but  one  serious  fault 
— there  were  not  enough  of  them  after  1840.  [Laughter  and 
applause.  ]  We  have  since  received  to  our  ranks  in  the  new  and 
greater  party  to  which  you  now  belong  accessions  from  those  who 
were  then  our  opponents,  and  we  now  unite  with  them  in  the 
defence  of  principles  which  were  dear  to  you  as  Whigs,  which 
were  indeed  the  cherished  and  distinguishing  principles  of  the 
Whig  party  ;  and  in  the  olden  and  better  time,  of  the  Democratic 
party  also.  Chief  among  these  were  a  reverent  devotion  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  flag,  and  a  firm  faith  in  the  benefits  of  a 
protective  tariff.  If,  in  some  of  the  States,  under  a  sudden  and 
mad  impulse  some  of  the  old  Whigs  who  stood  with  you  in  the 
campaign  of  1840,  to  which  you  have  referred,  wrandered  from  us, 
may  we  not  send  to  them  to-day  the  greetings  of  these  their  old 
associates,  and  invite  them  to  come  again  into  the  fold? 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  thank  you  again  for  your  visit,  and  would 
be  glad  if  you  would  remain  with  us  for  a  little  personal  inter- 
course. 


40  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  7. 

FIVE  hundred  commercial  travellers  paid  a  visit  to 
General  Harrison  on  July  7;  they  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  principally  from  Philadelphia,  Cincinnati, 
St.  Louis,  and  Louisville.  Major  James  R.  Ross  was  mar 
shal  of  their  delegation ;  David  E.  Coffin  presented  the 
"  drummers"  to  General  and  Mrs.  Harrison. 

When  all  had  gathered  within  or  about  the  residence, 
Col.  Ed.  H.  Wolfe  of  Rushville,  Indiana,  delivered  a  con- 
gratulatory address  on  behalf  of  the  visitors.  General 
Harrison,  responding,  said1. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Commercial  Travellers'  Association  of  Indiana 
and  Visiting  Friends — I  most  heartily  thank  you  for  this  cordial 
manifestation  of  your  respect.  It  is  to  be  expected  when  one  has 
been  named  for  office  by  one  of  the  great  parties  that  those  who  are 
in  accord  with  him  in  his  political  convictions  will  show  their 
interest  in  the  campaign  which  he  represents,  but  it  is  particularly 
gratifying  to  me  that  many  of  you  who  differ  with  me  in  political 
opinion,  reserving  your  own  opinions  and  choice,  have  come  here 
to  night  to  express  your  gratification,  personally,  that  I  have  been 
named  by  the  Republican  party  as  its  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

It  is  a  very  pleasant  thing  in  politics  when  this  sort  of  testi- 
mony is  possible,  and  it  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  night  to 
receive  it  at  your  hands.  I  do  not  know  why  we  cannot  hold  our 
political  differences  with  respect  for  each  other's  opinions,  and 
with  entire  respect  for  each  other  personally.  Our  opinions  upon 
the  great  questions  which  divide  parties  ought  not  to  be  held  in 
such  a  spirit  of  bigotry  as  will  prevent  us  from  extending  to  a 
political  opponent  the  concession  of  honesty  in  his  opinion  and 
that  personal  respect  to  which  he  may  be  entitled.  [Applause.  ] 

I  very  much  value  this  visit  from  you,  for  I  think  I  know  how 
to  estimate  the  commercial  travellers  of  America.  I  am  not  going 
to  open  before  you  to-night  any  store  of  flattery.  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  market  for  it  here.  [Laughter  and  cries  of  "That's 
good  !"  and  cheers.  ]  You  know  the  value  of  that  commodity  per- 
fectly. [Laughter  and  continued  applause.]  I  do  not  mean  to 
suggest  at  all  that  you  are  dealers  in  it  yourselves  [laughter]  in 
your  intercourse  with  your  customers,  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that 
your  wide  acquaintance  with  men,  that  judgment  of  character  and 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  41 

even  of  the  moods  of  men  which  is  essential  to  the  successful  pros- 
ecution of  your  business  makes  you  a  very  unpromising  audience 
upon  which  to  pass  any  stale  compliments. 

My  memory  goes  back  to  the  time  when  there  were  no  commer- 
cial travellers.  When  I  first  came  to  Indianapolis  to  reside  your 
profession  was  not  known.  The  retail  merchant  went  to  the  whole- 
sale house  and  made  his  selections  there.  I  appreciate  the  fact 
that  those  who  successfully  pursue  your  calling  must,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  be  masters  of  the  business  in  which  you  are  engaged 
and  possess  great  adaptability  and  a  high  order  of  intelligence. 

I  thank  you  again  for  this  visit ,  and  give  you  in  return  my 
most  sincere  respect  and  regard.  [Applause.]  I  regret  that  there 
is  not  room  enough  here  for  your  comfort  [a  voice  :  "There  will  be 
more  room  in  the  White  House !"  Another-  "We  will  take  your 
order  now  and  deliver  the  goods  in  November!"],  but  I  shall  be 
glad  if  any  or  all  of  you  will  remain  for  a  better  acquaintance  and 
less  formal  intercourse.  [Great  applause  and  rousing  cheers  for 
the  next  President.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY    9. 

THE  first  of  many  delegations  from  other  States  arrived 
July  9,  from  the  city  of  Benton  Harbor,  Mich.,  and  in- 
cluded many  ladies.     The  leading  members  were  F.  R. 
Gilson,  Ambrose  H.  Howe,  Wm.  S.  Farmer,  G.  M.  Valen- 
tines, W.  B.  Shanklin,  E.  M.  Elick,  A.  J.  Kidd,  C.  C. 
Sweet,  O.  B.  Hipp,  R.  M.  Jones,  W.  L.  Hogan,  James  Mc- 
Donald, Allen  Brunson,  Frank  Melton,  P.  W.  Hall,  Geo. 
W.  Platt,  W.  L.  McClure,  J.  C.  Purrill,  E.  H.  Kelly,  J.  A. 
Crawford,  M.  J.  Vincent,    Dr.    Boston,   M.  G.  Kennedy, 
and  Dr.  J.  Bell.     General  L.  M.  Ward  was  spokesman  for 
the  visitors.     General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — This  visit  is  exceptional  in  some  of  its  features. 
Already,  in  the  brief  time  since  my  nomination,  I  have  received 
various  delegations,  but  this  is  the  first  delegation  that  has  visited 
me  from  outside  the  borders  of  my  own  State.  Your  visit  is  also 
exceptional  and  very  gratifying  in  that  you  have  brought  with 
you  the  ladies  of  your  families  to  grace  the  occasion  and  to  honor 
me  by  their  presence.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  while  the  result  of 


42  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  convention  at  Chicago  brought  disappointment  to  you,  it  has 
not  left  any  sores  that  need  the  ointment  of  time  for  their  healing. 
Your  own  favored  citizen,  distinguished  civilian,  and  brave  sol- 
dier, General  Alger,  was  among  the  first  and  among  the  most  cor- 
dial to  extend  to  me  his  congratulations  and  the  assurance  of  his 
earnest  support  in  the  campaign.  I  am  sure  it  cannot  be  other- 
wise than  that  the  Republicans  of  Michigan  will  take  a  deep  inter- 
est in  this  campaign ;  an  interest  that  altogether  oversteps  all 
personal  attachments.  Your  State  has  been  proudly  associated  with 
the  past  successes  of  the  Republican  party,  and  your  interests  are 
now  closely  identified  with  its  success  in  the  pending  campaign. 
I  am  sure,  therefore,  that  I  may  accept  your  presence  here  to- 
night not  only  as  a  personal  compliment,  but  as  a  pledge  that 
Michigan  will  be  true  again  to  those  great  principles  of  govern- 
ment which  are  represented  by  the  Republican  party.  We  cherish 
the  history  of  our  party  and  are  proud  of  its  high  achievements ; 
they  stir  the  enthusiasm  of  the  young  and  crown  those  who  were 
early  in  its  ranks  with  well- deserved  laurels.  The  success  of  the 
Republican  party  has  always  been  identified  with  the  glory  of  the 
flag  and  the  unity  of  the  Government.  There  has  been  nothing  in 
the  history  or  principles  of  our  party  out  of  line  with  revolutionary 
memories  or  with  the  enlightened  statesmanship  of  the  framers 
of  our  Constitution.  Those  principles  are  greater  than  men,  lasting 
as  truth,  and  sure  of  final  vindication  and  triumph.  Let  me  thank 
you  again  for  your  visit,  and  ask  introduction  to  each  of  you. 


INDIANAPOLIS,    JULY   12. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  received  four  delegations  this  day. 
The  first  was  a  committee  of  veterans  from  John  A.  Logan 
Post,  No.  99,  G.  A.  R.,  of  North  Manchester,  Wabash 
County,  who  came  to  invite  the  General  to  attend  a 
soldiers'  reunion  for  Northern  Indiana.  The  committee 
comprised  Shelby  Sexton,  Senior  Vice-Commander  Indi- 
ana G.  A.  R. ;  John  Elwood,  Geo.  Lawrence,  J.  A.  Brown, 
W.  E.  Thomas,  I.  D.  Springdon,  J.  C.  Hubbard,  J.  M. 
Jennings,  E.  A.  Ebbinghous,  L.  J.  Noftzger,  and  S.  V. 
Hopkins.  Rev.  R.  J.  Parrott  delivered  the  address  of 
invitation.  General  Harrison  responded : 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  43 

Comrades  and  Gentlemen — Your  request  is  one  that  appeals  to 
me  very  strongly,  and  if  it  were  single  I  should  very  promptly 
accede  to  it,  but,  without  being  told,  you  will  readily  understand 
that  invitations  of  a  kindred  nature  are  corning  to  me  every  day, 
presented  by  individual  comrades  and  committees,  but  more  fre- 
quently by  written  communications. 

I  have  felt  that  if  I  opened  a  door  in  this  direction  it  would  be 
a  very  wide  one,  and  I  would  either  subject  myself  to  the  criti- 
cism of  having  favored  particular  localities  or  particular  organiza- 
tions, to  the  neglect  of  others  having  equal  claims  upon  me,  or 
that  I  should  be  compelled  to  give  to  this  pleasant  duty — as  it 
would  be  if  other  duties  did  not  crowd  me — too  much  of  my  time. 
I  am,  therefore,  compelled  to  say  to  you  that  it  wTill  be  impossible 
for  me  to  accept  your  invitation.  But  in  doing  this,  I  wTant  to 
thank  you  for  the  interest  you  have  shown  in  my  presence  with 
you,  and  I  want  especially  to  thank  you  for  the  spirit  of  comrade- 
ship which  brings  you  here.  I  am  glad  to  know— and  I  have  many 
manifestations  of  it — that  the  peculiar  position  in  wThich  I  am 
placed  as  a  candidate  of  a  political  party  does  not  separate  me 
from  the  cordial  friendship  and  comradeship  of  those  who  differ 
with  me  politically.  I  should  greatly  regret  it  if  it  should  be  so. 
We  held  our  opinions  and  fought  for  them  when  the  war  was  on, 
and  we  will  hold  them  now  in  affectionate  comradeship  and 
mutual  respect.  I  thank  you  for  your  visit. 

The  second  delegation  also  came  from  "W abash  County 
and  was  under  the  leadership  of  William  Hazen,  Warren 
Bigler,  James  P.  Ross,  James  E.  Still,  Robert  Weesner, 
John  Rodgers,  Job  Ridgway,  and  Joseph  Ridgway,  aged 
83,  of  Wabash  City.  Their  spokesman  was  Mr.  Cowgill. 
General  Harrison,  responding,  said : 

Mr.  Cowgill  and  my  Wabash  County  Friends — In  1860  I  was 
first  a  candidate  before  a  convention  for  nomination  to  a  public  f 
office.  Possibly  some  of  those  who  are  here  to-day  were  in  that 
convention.  Wabash  County  presented  in  the  person  of  my  friend, 
and  afterwards  my  comrade,  Col.  Charles  Parrish,  a  candidate  for 
the  office  which  I  also  sought,  that  of  Reporter  of  Decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  We  had  a  friendly  yet 
earnest  contest  before  the  convention,  in  which  I  succeeded.  A 
little  later  in  the  campaign,  as  I  was  attempting  to  render  to  my 
party  the  services  which  my  nomination  seemed  to  imply,  I  visited 
your  good  county  and  received  at  your  hands  a  welcome  so  demon- 


44  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

strati ve  and  cordial  that  I  have  always  had  a  warm  place  In  my 
heart  for  your  people.  I  was  then  almost  a  boy  in  years,  and  alto- 
gether a  boy  in  public  life.  Since  then,  in  campaigns  in  which  I 
have  had  a  personal  interest,  and  in  very  many  more  wherein  I 
had  only  the  general  interest  that  you  all  had,  it  has  been  my 
pleasure  to  visit  your  county,  and  I  can  testify  to  the  earnest,  intel- 
ligent and  devoted  republicanism  of  Wabash  County.  You  have 
never  faltered  in  any  of  the  great  struggles  in  which  the  party 
has  engaged ;  and  I  believe  you  have  followed  your  party  from  a 
high  conviction  that  the  purposes  it  set  before  us  involved  the  best 
interests  of  the  country  that  you  love,  and  to  which  you  owe  the 
duty  of  citizens.  I  know  how  generously  you  contributed  to  the 
army  when  your  sons  were  called  to  defend  it ;  and  I  know  how, 
since  the  war,  you  have  endeavored  to  preserve  and  to  conserve  those 
results  which  you  fought  for,  and  which  made  us  again  one  peo- 
ple, acknowledging,  and  I  hope  loving,  one  flag  and  one  Constitu- 
tion. [Applause.]  I  want  to  thank  you  personally  for  this  visit, 
and  I  wish  now,  if  it  is  your  pleasure,  to  meet  you  individually. 

Benton  County,  Indiana,  contributed  the  third  delega- 
tion of  the  day,  led  by  H.  S.  Travis,  Clark  Cook,  B.  John- 
son, Henry  Taylor,  Frank  Knapp,  and  Robert  L.  Cox  of 
Fowler.  They  were  presented  by  Col.  A.  D.  Streight. 
General  Harrison  said : 

Colonel  Streight,  Felloiv-eitizens,  and  Comrades — I  am  very  grate- 
ful to  you  for  this  visit,  and  for  the  cordial  terms  in  which  your 
spokesman  has  extended  to  me  the  congratulations  of  my  friends 
of  Benton  County  We  have  men  who  boast  that  they  are  cosmo- 
politans, citizens  of  the  world.  I  prefer  to  say  that  I  am  an  Amer- 
ican citizen  [applause],  and  I  freely  confess  that  American  inter- 
ests have  the  first  place  in  my  regard.  [Applause.]  This  is  not 
at  all  inconsistent  with  the  recognition  of  that  comity  between 
nations  which  is  necessary  to  the  peace  of  the  world.  It  is  not 
inconsistent  with  that  philanthropy  which  sympathizes  with 
human  distress  and  oppression  the  world  around.  We  have  been 
especially  favored  as  an  apart  nation,  separated  from  the  conflicts, 
jealousies,  and  intrigues  of  European  courts,  with  a  territory 
embracing  every  feature  of  climate  and  soil,  and  resources  capable 
of  supplying  the  wants  of  our  people,  of  developing  a  wholesome 
and  gigantic  national  growth,  and  of  spreading  abroad,  by  their 
full  establishment  here,  the  principles  of  human  liberty  and  free 
government.  I  do 'not  think  it  inconsistent  with  the  philanthropy 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  45 

of  the  broadest  teacher  of  human  love  that  we  should  first  have 
regard  for  that  family  of  which  we  are  a  part.  Here  in  Indiana 
the  drill  has  just  disclosed  to  us  the  presence  of  inexhaustible  quan- 
tities, in  a  large  area  of  our  State,  of  that  new  fuel  which  has  the 
facility  of  doing  its  own  transportation,  even  to  the  furnace  door, 
and  which  leaves  no  residuum  to  be  carried  away  when  it  has  done 
its  work.  This  discovery  has  added  an  impulse  to  our  growth. 
It  has  attracted  manufacturing  industries  from  other  States.  Many 
of  our  towns  have  received,  and  this  city,  we  may  hope,  is  yet  to 
receive,  a  great  impulse  in  the  development  of  their  manufactur- 
ing industries  by  reason  of  this  discovery.  It  seems  to  me  that 
when  this  fuller  development  of  our  manufacturing  interests,  this 
building  up  of  a  home  market  for  the  products  of  our  farms,  which 
is  sure  to  produce  here  that  which  has  been  so  obvious  elsewhere 
— a  great  increase  in  the  value  of  farms  and  farm  products— is 
opening  to  us  the  pleasant  prospect  of  a  rapid  growth  in  wealth, 
we  should  be  slow  to  abandon  that  system  of  protective  duties 
which  looks  to  the  promotion  and  development  of  American  indus- 
try and  to  the  preservation  of  the  highest  possible  scale  of  wages 
for  the  American  workman.  [Applause.]  The  development  of 
our  country  must  be  on  those  lines  that  benefit  all  our  people. 
Any  development  that  does  not  reach  and  beneficially  affect  all  our 
people  is  not  to  be  desired,  and  cannot  be  progressive  or  permanent. 
Comrades,  you  still  love  the  flag  for  which  we  fought%.  We  are 
preserved  in  God's  providence  to  see  the  wondrous  results  of  that 
struggle  in  which  you  were  engaged— a  reunited  country,  a  Consti- 
tution whose  authority  is  no  longer  disputed,  a  flag  to  which  all 
men  bow.  It  has  won  respect  at  home ;  it  should  be  respected 
by  all  nations  of  the  earth  as  an  emblem  and  representative  of  a 
people  desiring  peace  with  all  men,  but  resolute  in  the  determination 
that  the  rights  of  all  our  citizens  the  wrorld  around  shall  be  faith- 
fully respected.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "That's  right!"]  I  thank 
you  again  for  this  visit,  and,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  and  your  com- 
mittee will  so  arrange,  I  will  be  glad  to  take  you  by  the  hand. 

The  fourth  and  largest  delegation  of  the  day  came  from 
Boone  County,  numbering  more  than  two  thousand,  led  by 
Captain  Brown,  S.  S.  Heath,  A.  L.  Howard,  W.  H.  H. 
Martin,  D.  A.  Rice,  James  Williamson,  E.  G.  Darnell, 
D.  H.  Olive,  and  Captain  Arbigas  of  Lebanon,  the  last- 
named  veteran  totally  blind. 

Another  contingent  was  commanded  by  David  0,  Mason, 


46  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

J.  O.  Hurst,  J.  N.  Harmon,  and  Mr.  Denny,  an  octogen- 
arian, all  of  Zionsville.  Dr.  D.  C.  Scull  was  orator  for 
the  visitors.  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — The  magnitude  of  this  demonstration  puts  us  at  a 
disadvantage  in  our  purpose  to  entertain  you  hospitably,  as  \ve 
had  designed  when  notified  of  your  coming.  [Cheers.]  I  regret 
that  you  must  stand  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  that  I 
must  be  at  the  disadvantage  of  speaking  from  this  high  balcony 
a  few  words  of  hearty  thanks.  I  hope  it  may  be  arranged  by  the 
committee  so  that  I  may  yet  have  the  opportunity  of  speaking  to 
you  informally  and  individually.  I  am  glad  to  notice  your  quick 
interest  in  the  campaign.  I  am  sure  that  that  interest  is  stimu- 
lated by  your  devotion  to  the  principles  of  government  which  you 
conceive— rightly,  as  I  believe — to  be  involved  in  this  campaign. 
[Applause.]  I  am  glad  to  think  that  some  of  you,  veterans  of  a 
former  political  campaign  to  which  your  chairman  has  alluded, 
and  others  of  you,  comrades  in  the  great  Avar  for  the  Union,  come 
here  to  express  some  personal  friendship  for  me.  [Cheers.]  But 
I  am  sure  that  this  campaign  will  be  waged  upon  a  plan  altogether 
above  personal  consideration.  You  are  here  as  citizens  of  the  State 
of  Indiana,  proud  of  the  great  advancement  the  State  has  made 
since  those  pioneer  days  when  brave  men  from  the  East  and  South 
entered  our  territory,  blazing  a  pathway  into  the  unbroken  forest, 
upon  which  civilization,  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  the  love  of 
God  has  walked  until  we  are  conspicuous  among  the  States  as 
a  community  desirous  of  social  order,  full  of  patriotic  zeal,  and 
pledged  to  the  promotion  of  that  education  which  is  to  qualify  the 
coming  generations  to  discharge  honorably  and  well  their  duties 
to  the  Government  which  we  will  leave  in  their  hands.  [Applause.  ] 
You  are  here  also  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  proud  of  that 
arch  of  strength  that  binds  together  the  States  of  this  Union  in 
one  great  Nation.  But  citizenship  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its 
privileges.  The  first  is  that'we  give  our  energies  and  influence 
to  the  enactment  of  just,  equal,  and  beneficent  laws.  The  second 
is  like  unto  it— that  we  loyally  reverence  and  obey  the  will  of  the 
majority  enacted  into  law,  whether  we  are  ot  a  majority  or  not 
[applause]  ;  the  law  throws  the  aegis  of  its  protection  over  us  all. 
It  stands  sentinel  about  your  country  homes  to  protect  you  from 
violence ;  it  comes  into  our  more  thickly  populated  community 
and  speaks  its  mandate  for  individual  security  and  public  order. 
There  is  an  open  avenue  through  the  ballot-box  for  the  modifica- 
tion or  repeal  of  laws  which  are  unjust  or  oppressive.  To  the  law 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  47 

we  bow  with  reverence.  It  is  the  one  king  that  commands  our 
allegiance.  We  will  change  our  king,  when  his  rule  is  oppressive, 
by  these  methods  appointed,  and  crown  his  more  liberal  successor. 
[Applause.]  I  thank  you  again,  most  cordially,  for  this  visit,  and 
put  myself  in  the  hands  of  your  committee  that  I  may  have  the 
privilege  of  meeting  you  individually. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  13. 

ONE  thousand  employees  of  the  various  railroads  centre- 
ing at  Indianapolis,  organized  as  a  Harrison  and  Morton 
Club — J.  C.  Finch,  President,  and  A.  D.  Shaw,  Marshal 
of  the  occasion — called  on  General  Harrison  on  the  night 
of  July  13.  Yardmaster  Shaw  was  spokesman.  General 
Harrison  replied : 

Gentlemen — Your  visit  is  very  gratifying  to  me,  and  is  full  of 
significance  and  interest.  If  I  read  aright  the  language  of  your 
lanterns  you  have  signalled  the  Republican  train  to  go  ahead. 
[Applause  and  cries  of  "And  she  is  going,  too!"]  You  have  con- 
cluded that  it  is  freighted  with  the  interests  and  hopes  of  the 
workingmen  of  America,  and  must  have  the  right  of  way. 
[Cheers  and  cries,  "That's  true!"  and  "We  don't  have  to  take 
water  on  this  trip,  either !"]  The  train  has  been  inspected  ;  you 
have  given  it  your  skilled  and  intelligent  approval ;  the  track  has 
been  cleared  and  the  switches  spiked  down.  Have  I  read  your  sig- 
nals aright?  [Cheers  and  cries  of  "You  have!"  and  "There's  no 
flat  wheels  under  this  train  !"]  You  represent,  I  understand,  every 
department  of  railroad  labor — the  office,  the  train,  the  shop,  the 
yard,  and  the  road.  You  are  the  responsible  and  intelligent  agents 
of  a  vast  system  that,  from  a  rude  and  clumsy  beginning,  has 
grown  to  be  as  fine  and  well  adapted  as  the  parts  of  the  latest  loco- 
motive engine.  The  necessities  and  responsibilities  of  the  business 
of  transportation  have  demanded  a  body  of  picked  men — inventive 
and  skilful,  faithful  and  courageous,  sober  and  educated — and  the 
call  has  been  answered,  as  your  presence  here  to  night  demon- 
strates. [Cheers.  ]  Heroism  has  been  found  at  the  throttle  and 
the  brake,  as  well  as  on  the  battle-field,  and  as  well  worthy  of  song 
and  marble.  The  trainman  crushed  between  the  platforms,  who 
used  his  last  breath,  not  for  prayer  or  message  of  love,  but  to  say 
to  the  panic-stricken  who  gathered  around  him,  "Put  out  the  red 


48  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

light  for  the  other  train,"  inscribed  his  name  very  high  upon  the 
shaft  where  the  names  of  the  faithful  and  brave  are  written.  [A 
voice  •  "  Give  him  three  cheers  for  that !"  Great  and  enthusiastic 
cheering.  ] 

This  early  and  very  large  gathering  of  Republican  railroad  men 
suggests  to  me  that  you  have  opinions  upon  public  questions 
which  are  the  product  of  your  own  observations  and  study.  Some 
one  will  say  that  the  railroad  business  is  a  "non-protected  indus- 
try, "  because  it  has  to  do  with  transportation  and  not  with  pro- 
duction. But  I  only  suggest  what  has  already  occurred  to  your 
own  minds  when  I  say  that  is  a  very  deceptive  statement.  You 
know  there  is  a  relation  between  the  wages  of  skilled  and  unskilled 
labor  as  truly  as  between  the  prices  of  two  grades  of  cotton  cloth  ; 
that  if  the  first  is  cut  down,  the  other,  too,  must  come  down. 
[Cries  of  "That's  just  so  !"]  You  know,  also,  that  if  labor  is  thrown 
out  of  one  line  or  avenue,  by  so  much  the  more  will  the  others 
be  crowded ;  that  any  policy  that  transfers  production  from  the 
American  to  the  English  or  German  shop  works  an  injury  to  all 
American  workmen.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

But,  if  it  could  be  shown  that  your  wages  were  unaffected  by  our 
system  of  protective  duties,  I  am  sure  that  your  fellowship  with 
your  fellow-toilers  in  other  industries  would  lead  you  to  desire,  as 
I  do  and  always  have,  that  our  legislation  may  be  of  that  sort  that 
will  secure  to  them  the  highest  possible  prosperity  [applause]  — 
wages  that  not  only  supply  the  necessities  of  life,  but  leave  a  sub- 
stantial margin  for  comfort  and  for  the  savings  bank.  No  man's 
wages  should  be  so  low  that  he  cannot  make  provision  in  his  days 
of  vigor  for  the  incapacity  of  accident  or  the  feebleness  of  old  age. 
[Great  cheering.] 

I  am  glad  to  be  assured  to-nighfc  that  the  principles  of  our  party 
and  all  things  affecting  its  candidates  can  be  safely  left  to  the 
thoughtful  consideration  of  the  American  workingmen — they  will 
know  the  truth  and  accept  it;  they  will  reject  the  false  and  slan- 
derous. [Applause.  ] 

And  now  let  me  say  in  conclusion  that  my  door  will  always  be 
open  to  any  of  you  who  may  desire  to  talk  with  me  about  anything 
that  interests  you  or  that  you  think  will  interest  me.  I  regret  that 
Mrs.  Harrison  is  prevented  by  a  temporary  sickness  from  joining 
with  me  in  receiving  you  this  evening.  [Great  cheering.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  49 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  14. 

A  NOTABLE  visit  was  that  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 
members  of  the  Lincoln  Club,  one  of  the  most  influential 
political  organizations  of  Cincinnati.  They  were  escorted 
by  the  First  Regiment  Band  and  led  by  their  President, 
Hon.  A.  C.  Horton,  with  Col.  James  I.  Quiiiton,  Marshal 
of  the  day.  Among  other  prominent  members  in  line  were 
Col.  Leo  Markbreit,  Senator  Richardson,  Dr.  M.  M.  Eaton, 
Hon.  Fred  Pfeister,  W.  E.  Hutton,  Samuel  Baily,  Jr., 
Albert  Mitchell,  H.  M.  Zeigler,  B.  O.  M.  De  Beck,  W.  T. 
Porter,  Harry  Probasco,  John  Ferinbatch,  Geo.  B.  Fox,  J. 
E.  Strubbe,  Dr.  S.  V.  Wiseman,  Joseph  H.  Thornton,C.  H. 
Rockwell,  Lewis  Wesner  and  Col.  Moore.  Hon.  Drusin 
Wulsin,  Vice- President  of  the  club,  was  the  orator.  Gen- 
eral Harrison,  who  had  been  ill  for  two  days,  replied : 

Mr.  Wulsin  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Lincoln  Club  of  Cincinnati — 
I  thank  you  very  much  for  this  visit,  and  I  wish  I  found  myself 
in  condition  to  talk  to  .you  with  comfort  to-night.  I  cannot,  how- 
ever, let  the  occasion  pass,  in  view  of  the  kind  terms  in  which 
you  have  addressed  me  through  your  spokesman,  without  a  word. 
I  feel  as  if  these  Hamilton  County  Republicans  were  my  neigh- 
bors. The  associations  of  my  early  life  were  with  that  county, 
and  of  my  student  life  largely  with  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  You 
did  not  need  to  state  to  me  that  Ohio  supported  John  Sherman  in 
the  convention  at  Chicago  [laughter]  simply  to  couple  with  it  the 
suggestion  that  it  was  a  matter  of  State  pride  for  you  to  do  so. 
I  have  known  him  long  and  intimately.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
for  four  years  to  sit  beside  him  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
I  learned  there  to  value  him  as  a  friend  and  to  honor  him  as  a 
statesman.  There  were  reasons  altogether  wider  than  the  State  of 
Ohio  why  you  should  support  John  Sherman  in  the  convention. 
[Applause  and  cries  of  "  Good  !"  "  Good  !"]  His  long  and  faithful 
service  to  his  country  and  to  the  Republican  party,  his  distin- 
guished ability,  his  fidelity  as  a  citizen,  all  entitled  him  to  your 
faithful  support;  and  I  beg  to  assure  you,  as  I  have  assured  him 
both  before  and  since  the  convention,  that  I  did  not  and  would 
not,  upon  any  consideration,  have  made  any  attempt  against  him 
upon  the  Ohio  delegation.  [Applause.]  I  have  known  of  your 


50  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

club  as  an  organization  that  early  set  the  example  of  perpetuating 
itself — an  example  that  I  rejoice  to  see  is  being  largely  followed 
now  throughout  our  country.  If  these  principles  which  are  being 
urged  by  our  party  in  these  contests  are  worthy  of  our  campaign 
enthusiasm  and  ardor,  they  are  worthy  to  be  thought  of  and  advo- 
cated in  the  period  of  inter- campaign.  They  affect  the  business 
interests  of  our  country,  and  their  full  adoption  and  perpetuation,  , 
we  believe,  will  bring  prosperity  to  all  our  individual  and  social 
and  community  interests.  Therefore,  I  think  it  wise  that  in  those 
times,  when  men's  minds  are  more  open  to  conviction  and  are 
readier  of  access,  you  should  press  upon  the  attention  of  your  neigh- 
bors through  your  club  organizations  these  principles  to  which  you 
and  I  have  given  the  allegiance  of  our  minds  and  the  devotion  of 
our  hearts.  I  thank  you  again  for  this  visit.  We  are  glad  that 
you  have  come ;  therefore,  I  welcome  you,  not  only  as  Republicans, 
but  as  friends.  [Applause.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  18. 

HOWARD  COUNTY  sent  a  delegation  of  six  hundred  citi- 
zens this  day,  led  by  Major  A.  N.  Grant.  The  Lincoln 
League  Club  of  Kokomo  was  commanded  by  its  Presi- 
dent, John  E.  Moore.  Other  prominent  citizens  in  the 
delegation  were  Hon.  J.  N.  Loop,  J.  A.  Kautz,  J.  E.  Vaile, 
John  Ingalls,  W.  E.  Blackledge,  B.  B.  Johnson,  J.  B.  Lan- 
den,  Dr.  James  Wright,  H.  E.  McMonigal,  Edward 
Klum,  Charles  Pickett,  and  A.  R.  Ellis.  Rev.  Father  Ray- 
burn,  a  voter  in  the  campaign  of  1840,  was  spokesman. 
General  Harrison,  in  reply,  said : 

Father  Raybum  and  my  Howard  County  Friends — I  think  I  may 
accept  this  demonstration  as  evidence  that  the  action  of  the  Re- 
publican convention  at  Chicago  has  been  accepted  with  resigna- 
tion by  the  Republicans  of  Howard  County.  [Loud  cheers.]  You 
are  the  favored  citizens  of  a  favored  county.  Your  county  has 
been  conspicuous  among  the  counties  of  this  State  for  its  enter- 
prise and  intelligence.  You  have  been  favored  with  a  kindly  and 
generous  soil,  cultivated  by  an  intelligent  and  educated  class  of 
farmers.  Hitherto  you  have  chiefly  drawn  your  wealth  from  the 
soil.  You  have  had  in  the  city  of  Kokomo  an  enterprising  and 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  51 

thrifty  county  town.  You  have  been  conspicuous  for  your  interest 
and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  education— for  your  interest  in  bring- 
ing forward  the  coming  generations  well  equipped  for  the  duties 
of  citizenship.  I  congratulate  you  to-day  that  a  new  era  of  pros- 
perity has  opened  for  your  county  in  the  discovery  of  this  new 
and  free  fuel  to  which  Mr.  Rayburn  has  alluded.  A  source  of  great 
wealth  has  been  opened  to  your  people.  You  have  already  begun 
to  realize  what  it  is  to  your  county,  though  your  expectations 
have  hardly  grasped  what  it  will  be  when  the  city  of  Kokomo  and 
your  other  towns  have  reached  the  full  development  which  will 
follow  this  discovery.  You  will  then  all  realize — the  citizens  of 
that  prosperous  place  as  well  as  the  farmers  throughout  the  county 
— the  advantage  of  having  a  home  market  for  the  products  of  your 
farms.  [Cheers.]  You  may  not  notice  this  so  much  in  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  prices  of  the  staple  products  of  your  farms,  but  you 
will  notice  it  in  the  expansion  of  the  market  for  those  more  per- 
ishable products  which  cannot  reach  a  distant  market  and  must 
be  consumed  near  home.  Is  it  not,  then,  time  for  you,  as  thought- 
ful citizens,  whatever  your  previous  political  affiliations  may  have 
been,  to  consider  the  question,  "What  legislation  will  most  pro- 
mote the  development  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of  your 
county  and  enlarge  the  home  market  for  the  products  of  your 
farm?"  I  shall  not  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  this  question;  it  is 
enough  to  state  it,  and  leave  it  to  your  own  intelligent  considera- 
tion. [Cheers.  ] 

Let  me  thank  you  again  for  this  kindly  visit,  and  beg  you  to 
excuse  any  more  extended  remarks,  and  to  give  me  now  an  oppor- 
tunity of  thanking  each  of  you  personally  for  the  kind  things 
your  chairman  has  said  in  your  behalf. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  19. 

ILLINOIS  sent  three  large  delegations  this  date  from 
Springfield,  Jacksonville  and  Monticello.  Conspicuous  in 
the  column  was  the  famous  "  Black  Eagle  "  CluB  of  Spring- 
field, led  by  its  President,  Sam  H.  Jones,  and  the  Lincoln 
Club,  commanded  by  Capt.  John  C.  Cook 

In  the  Springfield  delegation  were  twenty-one  original 
Whigs  who  voted  for  Gen.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  among 
them  Jeriah  Bonham,  who  wrote  the  first  editorial — Nov. 


52  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

8,  1858 — proposing  the  candidacy  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  President.  Others  among  the  prominent  visitors  from 
Springfield  were:  Col.  James  T.  King,  C.  A.  Vaughan, 
Major  James  A.  Connelly,  Paul  Selby,  Hon.  David  T. 
Littler,  Jacob  Wheeler,  Gen.  Charles  W.  Pavey,  Robert 
J.  Oglesby,  Ira  Knight,  C.  P.  Baldwin,  James  H.  Kellogg, 
Alexander  Smith,  Geo.  Jameson,  Augustus  C.  Avers, 
Jacob  Strong,  Dr.  F.  C.  Winslow,  Fred  Smith,  Charles  T. 
Hawks,  Hon.  Henry  Dement,  Col.  Theo.  Ewert,  Jacob 
Bunn,  J.  C.  Matthews,  J.  R.  Stewart,  H.  W.  Beecher, 
Andrew  J.  Lester,  Dr.  Gurney,  and  Howes  Yates,  brother 
of  the  great  war  Governor. 

The  Jacksonville  visitors  were  represented  by  Hon.  Fred 
H.  Rowe,  ex-Mayor  Tomlinson,   Judge  T.  B.  Orear,  J.  B. 
Stevenson,  Dr.  Goodrich,  Professor  Parr  of  Illinois  College, 
J.  W.  Davenport,  and  Thomas  Rapp. 

Attorney-General  Hunt  spoke  on  behalf  of  all  the  vis- 
itors. General  Harrison's  reply  was  one  of  his  happiest 
speeches.  He  said : 

General  Hunt  and  my  Illinois  Friends — I  thank  you  for  this  cor- 
dial expression  of  your  interest  in  Republican  success.  I  thank 
you  for  the  kindly  terms  in  which  your  spokesman  has  conveyed 
to  me  the  assurance,  not  only  of  your  political  support,  but  of 
your  personal  confidence  and  respect. 

The  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  are  neighbors,  geographically. 
The  river  that  for  a  portion  of  its  length  constitutes  the  boundary 
between  our  States  is  not  a  river  of  division.  Its  tendency  seems 
to  be,  in  these  times  when  so  many  things  are  "going  dry" 
[cheers],  rather  to  obliterate  than  to  enlarge  the  obstruction 
between  us.  [Cheers.  ]  But  I  rejoice  to  know  that  we  are  not 
only  geographically  neighbors,  but  that  Indiana  and  Illinois  have 
been  neighborly  in  the  high  sentiments  and  purposes  which  have 
characterized  their  people.  I  rejoice  to  know  that  the  same  high 
spirit  of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  country  that  characterized  the 
State  of  Illinois  in  the  time  when  the  Nation  made  its  appeal  to 
the  brave  men  of  all  the  States  to  rescue  its  flag  and  its  Constitu- 
tion from  the  insurrection  which  had  been  raised  against  them 
was  equally  characteristic  of  Indiana — that  the  same  great  impulse 
swept  over  your  State  that  swept  over  ours— that  Richard  Yutes 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  53 

of  Illinois  [cheers]  and  Oliver  P.  Morton  of  Indiana  [prolonged 
cheers]  stood  together  in  the  fullest  sympathy  and  co-operation  in 
the  great  plans  they  devised  to  augment  and  re -enforce  the  Union 
armies  in  the  field  and  to  suppress  and  put  down  treasonable  con- 
spiracies at  home. 

As  Americans  and  as  Republicans  we  are  glad  that  Illinois  has 
contributed  so  many  and  such  conspicuous  names  to  that  galaxy 
of  great  Americans  and  great  Republicans  whose  deeds  have  been 
\vritten  on  the  scroll  of  eternal  fame.  I  recall  that  it  was  on  the 
soil  of  Illinois  that  Lovejoy  died — a  martyr  to  free  speech.  [Cries 
of  "Hear!"  "Hear!"]  He  was  the  forerunner  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. He  died,  but  his  protest  against  human  slavery  lived. 
Another  great  epoch  in  the  march  of  liberty  found  on  the  soil  of 
Illinois  the  theatre  of  its  most  influential  event.  I  refer  to  that 
high  debate  in  the  presence  of  your  people,  but  before  the  world, 
in  which  Douglas  won  the  senatorship  and  Lincoln  the  presidency 
and  immortal  fame.  [Loud  cheers.] 

But  Lincoln's  argument  and  Lincoln's  proclamation  must  be 
made  good  upon  the  battle-field— and  again  your  State  was  con- 
spicuous. You  gave  us  Grant  and  Logan  [prolonged  cheers]  and 
a  multitude  of  less  notable,  but  not  less  faithful,  soldiers  who 
underwrote  the  proclamation  with  their  swords.  [Cheers.]  I 
congratulate  you  to-day  that  there  has  come  out  of  this  early  agi- 
tation— out  of  the  work  of  Lovejoy,  the  disturber ;  out  of  the  great 
debate  of  1858,  and  out  of  the  war  for  the  Union,  a  Nation  with- 
out a  slave  [cheers] — that  not  the  shackles  of  slavery  only  have  been 
broken,  but  that  the  scarcely  less  cruel  shackles,  of  prejudice  which 
bound  every  black  man  in  the  North  have  also  been  unbound. 

We  are  glad  to  know  that  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the 
South  to-day  unites  with  us  in  our  congratulations  that  slavery 
has  been  abolished.  They  have  come  to  realize,  and  many  of  their 
best  and  greatest  men  to  publicly  express,  the  thought  that  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  has  opened  a  gateway  of  progress  and  material  de- 
velopment to  the  South  that  was  forever  closed  against  her  people 
while  domestic  slavery  existed. 

We  send  them  the  assurance  that  we  desire  the  streams  of  their 
prosperity  shall  flow  bank  full.  We  would  lay  upon  their  people 
no  burdens  that  we  do  not  willingly  bear  ourselves.  They  will  not 
think  it  amiss  if  I  say  that  the  burden  which  rests  willingly  upon 
our  shoulders  is  a  faithful  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws.  A  manly  assertion  by  each  of  his  individual  rights,  and  a 
manly  concession  of  equal  right  to  every  other  man,  is  the  boast 
and  the  law  of  good  citizenship. 


54  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Let  me  thank  you  again  and  ask  you  to  excuse  me  from  further 
public  speech.  I  now  ask  an  opportunity  to  meet  my  Illinois 
friends  personally  [Loud  and  prolonged  cheers.  ] 

The  second  speech  of  the  day  was  delivered  at  9  o'clock 
at  night  to  an  enthusiastic  delegation  of  fifteen  hundred 
Republicans  from  Shelbyville,  Shelby  County,  led  by  Hon. 
H.  C  Gordon,  J.  Walter  Elliott,  C.  H.  Campbell,  James 
T.  Caughey,  C.  X.  Matthews,  J.  Richey,  E.  S.  Powell, 
E.  E.  Elliott,  L.  S.  Limpus,  Orland  Young,  and  Norris 
Winterowd.  Judge  J.  C.  Adams  was  their  spokesman. 
General  Harrison  touched  upon  civil  service ;  he  said : 

Judge  Adams  and  my  Shelby  County  Friends — This  is  only  a 
new  evidence  of  your  old  friendliness.  My  association  with  the 
Republicans  of  Shelby  County  began  in  1855,  when  I  was  a  very 
young  man  and  a  still  younger  politician.  In  that  year,  if  I 
recollect  right,  I  canvassed  every  township  of  your  county  in  the 
interest  of  Mr.  Campbell,  who  was  then  a  candidate  for  County 
Clerk.  Since  then  I  have  frequently  visited  your  county,  and  have 
always  been  received  with  the  most  demonstrative  evidence  of  your 
friendship.  But  in  addition  to  these  political  associations,  which 
have  given  me  an  opportunity  to  observe  and  to  admire  the  stead- 
fastness, the  courage,  the  unflinching  faithfulness  of  the  Repub- 
licans of  Shelby  County  [cheers],  I  have  another  association  with 
your  county,  which  I  cherish  with  great  tenderness  and  affection. 
Two  companies  of  'the  Seventieth  Indiana  were  made  up  of  your 
brave  boys :  Company  B,  commanded  by  Captain  Sleeth,  and  Com- 
pany F,  commanded  by  Captain  Endsley,  who  still  lives  among 
you.  [Cheers.]  Many  of  the  surviving  members  of  these  com- 
panies still  dwell  among  you.  Many  others  are  in  the  far  West, 
and  they,  too,  from  their  distant  homes  have  sent  me  a  comrade's 
y.  greeting.  I  recollect  a  little  story  of  Peach  Tree  Creek  that  may 
interest  you.  When  the  Seventieth  Indiana,  then  under  command 
of  Col.  Sam  Merrill,  swung  up  from  the  reserve  into  the  front  line 
to  meet  the  enemy's  charge,  the  adjutant -general  of  the  brigade, 
who  had  been  directed  to  order  the  advance,  reported  that  the  left  of 
the  Seventieth  Indiana  was  exposed.  He  said  he  had  ordered  the 
bluff  old  captain  of  Company  F,  who  was  commanding  the  left 
wing,  to  reserve  his  left  in  order  to  cover  his  flank,  but  that  the 
old  hickory  had  answered  him  with  an  expletive — which  I  have  no 
doubt  he  has  repented  of — that  he  "  could  not  see  it, "  that  he  proposed 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  ^ 

that  his  end  of  the  regiment  should  get  to  the  top  of  that  hill  aa 
quick  as  the  other  end.  [Prolonged  cheers.] 

We  will  venerate  the  memory  of  the  dead  of  these  companies  and 
their  associate  companies  in  other  commands  who  gave  up  their 
lives  in  defence  of  the  flag. 

But  I  turn  aside  from  these  matters  of  personal  recollection  to 
say  a  word  of  more  general  concern.  We  are  now  at  the  opening 
of  a  presidential  campaign,  and  I  beg  to  suggest  to  you,  as  citi- 
zens of  the  State  of  Indiana,  that  there  is  always  in  such  campaigns 
a  clanger  to  be  avoided,  viz.  •  That  the  citizen  may  overlook  the 
important  local  and  State  interests  which  are  also  involved  in  the 
campaign.  I  beg,  therefore,  to  suggest  that  you  turn  your  minds 
not  only  to  the  consideration  of  the  questions  connected  with  the 
national  legislation  and  national  administration,  but  that  you 
think  deeply  and  well  of  those  things  that  concern  our  local  affairs. 
There  are  some  such  now  presented  to  you  that  have  to  do  with  the 
honor  and  prosperity  of  the  State. 

There  are  some  questions  that  ought  not  to  divide  parties,  but 
upon  which  all  good  men  ought  to  agree.  I  speak  of  only  one. 
The  great  benevolent  institutions — the  fruit  of  our  Christian  civil- 
ization—endowed by  the  bounty  of  the  State,  maintained  by  pub- 
lic taxes,  and  intended  for  the  care  and  education  of  the  disabled 
classes  of  our  community,  ought  to  be  lifted  above  all  party  in- 
fluences, benefit  or  control.  [Cheers.]  I  believe  you  can  do  noth- 
ing that  will  more  greatly  enhance  the  estimation  in  which  the 
State  of  Indiana  is  held  by  her  sister  States  than  to  see  to  it  that  a 
suitable,  well-regulated,  and  strict  civil  service  is  provided  for  the 
administration  of  the  benevolent  and  penal  institutions  of  the  State 
of  Indiana.  I  will  not  talk  longer ;  I  thank  you  for  this  magnifi- 
cent evidence  that  I  am  still  held  in  kindly  regard  by  the  Repub- 
licans of  Shelby  County,  and  bid  you  good-night.  [Cheers.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  24. 

ON  the  twenty-fourth  of  July  Champaign  County,  Illi- 
nois, contributed  a  large  delegation  under  the  direction  of 
Hon.  F.  K.  Robeson,  Z.  Riley,  H.  W.  Mahan,  and  W.  M. 
Whindley.  Their  parade  was  conspicuous  for  the  number 
of  log-cabins,  cider-barrels,  coons,  eagles,  and  other  cam- 
paign emblems. 

Prominent  members  of  the  delegation  were  Rev.  I.  S. 


5G  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Mahan,  H.  M.  Dunlap,  F.  M.  McKay,  J.  J.  McClain,  James 
Barnes,  Rev.  John  Henry,  H.  S.  Clark,  M.  S.  Goodrich,  A. 
W.  McNichols,  Capt.  J.  H.  Sands  and  three  veterans  of 
1830,  the  Rev.  S.  K.  Reed,  Stephen  Freeman,  and  W.  B. 
Downing.  Hon.  Frank  M.  Wright  delivered  the  address 
on  behalf  of  the  visitors.  General  Harrison  responded : 

My  Friends — I  feel  very  conscious  of  the  compliment  which  is 
conveyed  by  your  presence  here  to  day.  You  come  as  citizens  of  an 
adjoining  State  to  manifest,  as  your  spokesman  has  said,  some  per 
sonal  respect  for  me,  but  much  more,  I  think — your  interest  in  the 
pending  contention  of  principles  before  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  fortunate  that  you  are  allowed,  not  only  to  express 
your  interest  by  such  popular  gatherings  as  these,  but  that  you 
will  be  called  upon  individually,  after  the*  debate  is  over,  to  settle 
this  contention  by  your  ballots.  An  American  political  canvass, 
when  wre  look  through  the  noise  and  tinsel  that  accompanies  it, 
presents  a  scene  of  profound  interest  to  the  student  of  government. 
The  theory  upon  which  our  Government  is  builded  is  that  every 
qualified  elector  shall  have  an  equal  influence  at  the  ballot  box  with 
every  other.  Our  Constitutions  do  not  recognize  fractional  votes  ; 
they  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  one  man  to  count  one  and  a  half 
in  the  determination  of  public  questions.  It  is  wisely  provided 
that  whatever  differences  may  exist  in  intelligence,  in  wealth,  or 
in  any  other  respect,  at  the  ballot  box  there  shall  be  absolute 
equality.  No  interest  can  be  truly  subserved,  whether  local  or 
general,  by  any  invasion  of  this  great  principle.  The  wise  work 
of  our  fathers  in  constructing  this  Government  will  stand  all  tests 
of  internal  dissension  and 'revolution,  and  all  tests  of  external  as- 
sault, if  we  can  only  preserve  a  pure,  free  ballot.  [Applause.  ] 
Every  citizen  who  is  a  patriot  ought  to  lend  his  influence  to  that 
end,  by  promoting  necessary  reforms  in  our  election  laws  and  by 
a  watchful  supervision  of  the  processes  of  pur  popular  elections. 
We  ought  to  elevate  in  thought  and  practice  the  free  suffrage  that 
we  enjoy.  As  long  as  it  shall  be  held  by  our  people  to  be  the  jewel 
above  price,  as  long  as  each  for  himself  shall  claim  its  free  exercise 
and  shall  generously  and  manfully  insist  upon  an  equally  free  ex 
ercise  of  it  by  every  other  man,  our  Government  will  be  preserved 
and  our  development  will  not  find  its  climax  until  the  purpose  of 
God  in  establishing  this  Government  shall  have  spread  throughout 
the  world— governments  "  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people. "  [Cheers.  ] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  57 

You  will  not  expect,  nor  would  it  be  proper,  that  I  should  follow 
the  line  of  your  spokesman's  remarks,  or  even  allude  to  some  things 
that  he  has  alluded  to  ;  but  I  will  not  close  without  one  word  of 
compliment  and  comradeship  for  the  soldiers  of  Illinois.  [Applause.  ] 
I  do  not  forget  that  many  of  them,  like  Logan — that  fearless  and 
first  of  volunteer  soldiers — at  the  beginning  of  the  war  were  not 
in  sympathy  with  the  Republican  national  administration.  You 
had  a  multitude  of  soldiers  besides  Logan,  one  of  whom  has  been 
immortalized  in  poetry— Sergeant  Tillman  Joy — who  put  their 
politics  by  "  to  keep  till  the  war  was  through ;  "  and  many,  I  may 
add,  like  Logan,  when  they  got  home  found  new  party  associa- 
tions. But  we  do  not  limit  our  praise  of  the  loyalty  and  faithful- 
ness of  your  soldiers  to  any  party  lines,  for  we  realize  that  there 
were  good  soldiers  who  did  resume  their  ante -war  politics  when 
they  came  back  from  the  army.  To  such  we  extend  a  comrade's 
hand  always,  and  the  free  and  untrammelled  exercise  of  his  polit- 
ical choice  shall  not  bar  our  comradeship.  It  happened  during  the 
war  that  three  Illinois  regiments  were  for  some  time  under  my 
command  I  had  opportunity  to  observe  their  perfection  in  drill, 
their  orderly  administration  of  camp  duties,  and,  above  all,  the 
brilliant  courage  with  which  they  met  the  enemy.  And,  in  compli- 
menting them,  I  take  them  as  the  type  of  that  great  army  that  Illi- 
nois sent  out  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution. 
Let  me  thank  you  again  for  your  friendly  visit  to-day ;  and  if  any 
of  you  desire  a  nearer  acquaintance,  I  shall  be  glad  to  make  that 
acquaintance  now. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  25. 

Two  thousand  visitors  from  Edgar  and  Coles  counties, 
Illinois,  paid  their  respects  to  the  Republican  nominee 
this  day. 

The  excursion  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  John  A. 
Logan  Club  of  Paris,  Charles  P.  Fitch,  President.  There 
were  many  farmers  in  the  delegation,  also  eighty-two 
veterans  of  the  campaign  of  1840,  and  the  watchwords  of 
the  day  were  "Old  Tippecanoe  and  young  Tippecanoe." 
The  reception  took  place  at  University  Park,  notable  from 
this  time  forward  for  many  similar  events.  Prominent 
among  the  visitors  were  Geo.  F.  Howard,  Capt.  F.  M.  Rude, 


58  HARRISONS  SPEECHES. 

J.W.  Howell,  E.  R.  Lodge,  Capt.  J.  C.  Bessier,  M.  Hackett, 
James  Stewart,  and  Mayor  J.  M.  Bell  of  Paris ;  C.  G.  Peck 
and  J.  H.  Clark  of  Mattoon ;  and  Hon.  John  W.  Custor  of 
Benton.  State  Senator  George  E.  Bacon  delivered  the 
congratulatory  address.  General  Harrison  replied : 

Senator  Bacon  and  my  Illinois  Friends — Some  of  my  home 
friends  have  been  concerned  lest  I  should  be  worn  out  by  the  fre- 
quent coming  of  these  delegations.  I  am  satisfied  from  what  I  see 
before  me  to-day  that  the  rest  of  Illinois  is  here  [laughter],  and  the 
concern  of  my  friends  will  no  longer  be  excited  by  the  coming  of 
Illinois  delegations.  [A  voice,  "We  are  all  here!"]  That  you 
should  leave  the  pursuits  of  your  daily  life — the  farm,  the  office,  and 
the  shop — to  make  this  journey  gives  me  the  most  satisfactory  evi- 
dence that  your  hearts  are  enlisted  in  this  campaign.  I  am  glad 
to  welcome  here  to-day  the  John  A.  Logan  Club  of  Paris.  You 
have  chosen  a  name  that  you  will  not  need  to  drop,  whatever 
mutations  may  come  in  politics,  so  long  as  there  shall  be  a  party 
devoted  to  the  flag  and  to  the  Constitution,  and  pledged  to  preserve 
the  memories  of  the  great  deeds  of  those  who  died  that  the  Consti- 
tution might  be  preserved  and  the  flag  honored.  [Applause.] 
General  Logan  was  indeed,  as  your  spokesman  has  said,  "  the  typ- 
ical volunteer  soldier. "  With  him  loyalty  was  not  a  sentiment ;  it 
was  a  passion  that  possessed  his  whole  nature. 

When  the  civil  war  broke  out  no  one  did  more  than  he  to  solidify 
the  North  in  defence  of  the  Government.  He  it  was  who  said  that 
all  parties  and  all  platforms  must  be  subordinated  to  the  defence  of 
the  Government  against  unprovoked  assault.  [A  voice,  "That's 
just  what  he  said  !"]  In  the  war  with  Mexico,  as  a  member  of  the 
First  Illinois  Regiment,  and  afterwards  as  the  commander  of  the 
Thirty-first  Illinois  in  the  civil  war,  he  gave  a  conspicuous  ex- 
ample of  what  an  untrained  citizen  could  do  in  the  time  of  public 
peril.  In  the  early  fight  at  Donelson  he,  with  the  First  Illinois 
Brigade,  successfully  resisted  the  desperate  assaults  that  were  made 
upon  his  line ;  twice  wounded,  he  yet  refused  to  leave  the  field. 
The  courage  of  that  gallant  brigade  called  forth  from  a  Massachu- 
setts poet  the  familiar  lines  : 

"Thy  proudest  mother's  eyelids  fill. 

As  dares  her  gallant  boy, 
And  Plymouth  Rock  and  Bunker  Hill 
Yearn  to  thee,  Illinois." 

[Applause.]  He  commanded  successively  brigades,  divisions,  corps 
and  armies,  and  fought  them  with  unvarying  success.  I  greet  these 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  59 

veterans  of  the  campaign  of  1840.  You  recall  the  pioneer  days,  the 
log  cabin  days  of  the  West,  the  days  when  muddy  highways  were 
the  only  avenues  of  travel  and  commerce.  You  have  seen  a  mar- 
vellous development.  The  State  of  your  adoption  has  become  a 
mighty  commonwealth  ;  you  have  seen  it  crossed  and  recrossed  by 
railroads,  bringing  all  your  farms  into  easy  communication  with 
distant  markets  ;  you  have  seen  the  schoolhouse  and  church  brought 
into  every  neighborhood  ;  you  have  seen  this  country  rocked  in  the 
cradle  of  war ;  you  have  seen  it  emerge  from  that  dreadful  trial 
and  enter  upon  an  era  of  prosperity  that  seems  to  surpass  all  that 
had  gone  before. 

To  these  young  men  who  will,  for  the  first  time  this  year,  take 
part  as  citizens  in  determining  a  presidential  election,  I  suggest 
that  you  have  become  members  of  a  party  of  precious  memories. 
There  has  been  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  Republican  party, 
nothing  in  the  platform  of  principles  that  it  has  proclaimed,  that 
is  not  calculated  to  stir  the  high  impulses  of  your  young  hearts. 
The  Republican  party  has  walked  upon  high  paths.  It  has  set  be- 
fore it  ever  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  the  honor  of  its  flag, 
and  the  prosperity  of  our  people.  It  has  been  an  American  party 
[great  cheering]  in  that  it  has  set  American  interests  always  to 
the  front. 

My  friends  of  the  colored  organization,  I  greet  you  as  Republi- 
cans to-day.  I  recall  the  time  when  you  were  disfranchised  ;  when 
your  race  were  slaves  ;  when  the  doors  of  our  institutions  of  learn- 
ing were  closed  against  you,  and  even  admittance  to  many  of  our 
Northern  States  was  denied  you.  You  have  read  the  story  of  your 
disfranchisement,  of  the  restoration  to  you  of  the  common  rights 
of  men.  Read  it  again  ;  read  the  story  of  the  bitter  and  bigoted 
opposition  that  every  statute  and  constitutional  amendment  framed 
for  your  benefit  encountered.  What  party  befriended  you  when 
you  needed  friends?  What  party  has  stood  always  as  an  obstruc- 
tion to  the  development  and  enlargement  of  your  rights  as  citizens? 
When  you  have  studied  these  questions  well  you  will  be  able  to 
determine  not  only  where  your  gratitude  is  due,  but  where  the 
hopes  of  your  race  lie.  [Cheers.  ] 


60  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  26. 

FROM  Clay  County,  Indiana,  came  three  thousand  coal- 
miners  and  others,  this  day,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Harrison  Miners'  Club  of  Brazil.  Their  parade,  with 
dozens  of  unique  banners  and  devices,  was  one  of  the  most 
imposing  of  the  campaign.  Prominent  in  the  delegation 
were  Dr.  Joseph  C.  Gifford,  L.  A.  Wolfe,  Jacob  Herr,  P. 
H.  Penna,  John  F.  Perry,  C.  P.  Eppert,  E.  C.  CaUihan,  W. 
H.  Lowery,  Rev.  John  Cox,  A.  F.  Bridges,  William  Sporr, 
Carl  Thomas,  Geo.  F.  Fuller,  John  Gibbons,  Sam'l  Blair, 
Thomas  Washington,  and  Judge  Coffey  of  Brazil.  Major 
William  Carter  and  Edward  Wilton,  a  miner,  delivered 
addresses ;  Rob't  L.  McCowan  spoke  for  the  colored  mem- 
bers of  the  delegation.  General  Harrison,  in  response,  said : 

Gentlemen  and  Friends  from  Clay  County — I  thank  you  for  this 
enthusiastic  demonstration  of  your  interest.  I  am  glad  to  be  as- 
sured by  those  who  have  spoken  for  you  to  day  that  you  have 
brought  here,  and  desire  to  evidence,  some  personal  respect  for 
me  ;  but  this  demonstration  has  relation,  I  am  sure,  rather  to  prin- 
ciples than  to  men.  You  come  as  representatives  of  the  diversified 
interests  of  your  county.  You  are  fortunate  in  already  possessing 
diversified  industries.  You  have  not  only  agriculture,  but  the 
mine  and  factory  which  provide  a  home  market  for  the  products 
of  your  farms.  You  come  here,  as  I  understand,  from  all  these 
pursuits,  to  declare  that  in  your  opinion  your  interests,  as  farmers, 
as  miners,  as  mechanics,  as  tradesmen,  are  identified  with  the 
maintenance  of  the  doctrine  of  protection  to  American  industries, 
and  the  preservation  of  the  American  market  for  American  prod- 
ucts. [Cheers.]  Some  resort  to  statistics  to  show  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  American  workman  is  better  than  that  of  the  work- 
man of  any  other  country.  I  do  not  care  now  to  deal  with  statistics. 
One  fact  is  enougli  for  me.  The  tide  of  emigration  from  all  Euro- 
pean countries  has  been  and  is  towards  our  slwres.  The  gates  of 
Castle  Garden  swing  inward.  They  do  not  swing  outward  to  any 
American  laborer  seeking  a  better  country  than  this.  [Cries  of 
"  Never !  "] 

My  countrymen,  these  men,  who  have  toiled  at  wages  in  other 
lands  that  barely  sustained  life,  and  opened  no  avenue  of  promise 
to  them  or  to  their  children,  know  the  good  land  of  hope  as  well  as 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  Gl 

the  swallow  knows  the  land  of  summer.  [Applause.  J  They  testify 
that  here  there  are  better  conditions,  wider  and  more  hopeful  pros- 
pects for  workmen  than  in  any  other  land.  The  next  suggestion 
I  have  to  make  is  this .  that  the  more  work  there  is  to  do  in  this 
country  the  higher  the  wages  that  will  be  paid  for  the  doing  of  it. 
[Applause.  ]  I  speak  to  men  who  know  that  when  the  product  of 
their  toil  is  in  demand  in  the  market,  when  buyers  are  seeking  it, 
wages  advance  ;  but  when  the  market  for  your  products  is  depressed, 
and  the  manufacturer  is  begging  for  buyers,  then  wages  go  down. 
Is  it  not  clear,  then,  that  that  policy  which  secures  the  largest 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  at  home  is  the  policy  which  will  secure 
to  laboring  men  steady  employment  and  the  best  wages?  [Cheers 
and  cries  of  "That  is  right !"]  A  policy  which  will  transfer  work 
from  our  mines  and  our  factories  to  foreign  mines  and  foreign 
factories  inevitably  tends  to  the  depression  of  wages  here.  [Ap- 
plause and  cries  of  "That  i&  true!"]  These  are  truths  that  do 
not  require  profound  study. 

Having  here  a  land  that  throws  about  the  workingman  social 
and  political  conditions  more  favorable  than  are  found  elsewhere, 
if  we  can  preserve  also  more  favorable  industrial  conditions  we 
shall  secure  the  highest  interests  of  our  working  classes.  [Great 
cheering.]  What,  after  all,  is  the  best  evidence  of  a  nation's  pros- 
perity, and  the  best  guarantee  of  social  order,  if  it  is  not  an 
intelligent,  thrifty,  contented  working  class?  Can  we  look  for 
contentment  if  the  workman  is  only  able  to  supply  his  daily  neces- 
sities by  his  daily  toil,  but  is  not  able  in  the  vigor  of  youth  to  lay 
up  a  store  against  old  age?  A  condition  of  things  that  compels 
the  laborer  to  contemplate  want,  as  an  incident  of  sickness  or  dis- 
ability, is  one  that  tends  to  social  disorder.  [Applause  and  cries 
of  "That  is  so!"]  You  are  called  upon  now  to  consider  these 
problems.  I  will  not  debate  them  in  detail ,  others  will.  I  can 
only  commend  them  to  your  thoughtful  consideration.  Think  upon, 
them  ;  conclude  for  yourselves  what  policy  as  to  our  tariff  legisla- 
tion will  best  subserve  your  interests,  the  interests  of  your  families, 
and  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Nation  of  which  you  are  citi- 
zens. [Cheers.  ] 

My  colored  friends  who  are  here  to-day,  the  emancipation  of  the 
slave  removed  from  our  country  that  which  tended  to  degrade  labor. 
All  men  are  now  free  ;  you  are  thrown  upon  your  own  resources  ; 
the  avenues  of  intelligence  and  of  business  success  are  open  to  all. 
I  notice  that  the  party  to  which  we  belong  has  been  recently  re- 
proached by  the  suggestion  that  we  have  not  thoroughly  protected 
the  colored  man  in  the  South.  This  has  been  urged  as  a  reason 


62  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

why  the  colored  people  should  join  the  Democratic  party.  I  beg 
the  gentlemen  who  urge  that  plea  to  answer  this  question  Against 
whom  is  it  that  the  Republican  party  has  been  unable,  as  you  say, 
to  protect  your  race?  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good!  Good!"] 
Thanking  you  again  for  this  demonstration  and  for  your  friendly 
expressions,  I  will,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  drop  this  formal  method 
of  communication  and  take  my  Clay  County  friends  by  the  hand. 
[Great  cheering,  j 

The  Clay  County  miners  had  not  concluded  their  recep- 
tion before  a  delegation  of  several  hundred  arrived  from 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  headed  by  the  John  A.  Logan  Club, 
under  the  lead  of  General  Geo.  F.  Dick,  "W  illiam  Maddox, 
John  A.  Fullwiller,  M.  B.  Herr,  and  Dr.  F.  C.  Vandervoort. 
Their  orator  was  Dr.  W.  H.  H.  Adams,  formerly  Presi- 
dent of  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University.  General  Har- 
rison, replying,  said: 

My  Bloomington  Friends — When  I  received  here,  yesterday,  a 
very  large  delegation  from  Illinois,  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  they 
must  be  the  "rest  of  the  people  of  Illinois  that  had  not  been  here  be- 
fore. "  I  suppose  you  are  a  remnant  that  could  not  get  into  line  yester- 
day. I  thank  you  as  I  have  thanked  those  who  preceded  you,  for  the 
interest  which  the  people  of  your  State  have  manifested,  and  for  your 
cordial  fellowship  with  Indiana.  I  will  not  discuss  the  issues  of  the 
campaign.  You  have  already  thought  upon  the  platforms  of  the 
two  parties.  Some  of  you  have  perhaps  taken  your  politics  by  in- 
heritance. It  is  now  a  good  time  to  review  the  situation.  We 
have  the  same  interests  as  citizens.  Let  us  all  consider  the  history 
and  declarations  of  the  great  parties  and  thoughtfully  conclude 
which  is  more  likely  to  promote  the  general  interests  of  our  people. 
That  is  the  test.  The  British  I  arliament  does  not  legislate  with  a 
view  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
[Cries  of  "No,  never  !"]  They — rightly — have  in  view  the  interest 
of  that  empire  over  which  Victoria  reigns.  Should  we  not,  also, 
as  Americans,  in  our  legislation,  consider  first  the  interests  of  our 
people?  We  invite  the  thoughtful  attention  of  those  who  have 
hitherto  differed  with  us  as  to  these  questions.  Our  interests  are 
bound  together.  That  which  promotes  the  prosperitjr  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  you  dwell  in  kindly  association  with  your  Demo- 
cratic friends  promotes  your  interests  and  theirs  alike.  Thanking 
you  for  this  visit,  I  will  ask  you  to  excuse  me  from  further  speech. 
[Applause.  J 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  63 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  27. 

KOSCIUSKO  COUNTY,  Indiana,  contributed  two  thousand 
visitors  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  July,  under  the  leadership 
of  Capt.  C.  W.  Chapman,  James  H.  Cisney,  Reub.  Will- 
iams, Louis  Ripple,  J.  E  Stevenson,  Wm.  B.  Wood,  T. 
Loveday,  John  Wynant,  Charles  Adams,  Nelson  Richhart, 
Captain  A.  S.  Miller,  Clinton  Lowe,  P.  L.  Runyon,  James 
A.  Cook,  Frank  McGee,  and  John  Burbaker,  all  of  War- 
saw. Judge  H.  S.  Biggs  made  the  presentation  address. 
General  Harrison  replied  as  follows : 

Mr.  Biggs  and  my  Koscinsko  County  Friends — I  did  not  need  to 
be  assured  of  the  friendliness  of  the  Republicans  of  your  county. 
It  has  been  evidenced  too  many  times  in  the  past.  Before  the 
convention  at  Chicago  the  Republicans  of  your  county  gave  me  the 
assurance  that  my  nomination  would  meet  the  cordial  approbation 
of  your  people  I  am  glad  to  welcome  you  here  to  day,  and  regret 
that  your  journey  hither  has  been  so  tedious.  You  are  proud  of 
the  State  in  which  you  dwell ;  proud  of  her  institutions  of  learn- 
ing ;  proud  of  her  great  benevolent  institutions,  which  I  notice  by 
one  of  these  banners  you  have  pledged  yourselves  to  protect  from 
party  spoliation  and  degradation.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good ! 
Good!"]  But  while  we  have  much  that  is  cause  for  congratulation, 
we  are  not  enjoying  that  full  equality  of  civil  rights  in  the  State  of 
Indiana  to  which  we  are  entitled. 

Our  Government  is  a  representative  government  Delegates  in 
Congress  and  members  of  our  State  Senate  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives are  apportioned  to  districts  ,  and  the  National  and  State  Con- 
stitutions contemplate  that  these  districts  shall  be  equal,  so  that,  as 
far  as  possible,  each  citizen  shall  have,  in  his  district,  the  same  po- 
tency in  choosing  a  Member  of  Congress  or  of  our  State  Legislature 
as  is  exercised  by  a  voter  in  any  other  district.  We  do  not  to-day 
have  that  condition  of  things.  The  apportionment  of  our  State  for 
legislative  and  congressional  purposes  is  unfair,  and  is  known  to  be 
unfair  to  all  men.  No  candid  Democrat  can  defend  it  as  a  fair 
apportionment  It  was  framed  to  be  unequal ,  it  was  designed  to 
give  to  the  citizens  of  favored  districts  an  undue  influence.  It  was 
intended  to  discriminate  against  Republicans.  It  is  not  right  that 
it  should  be  so  I  hope  the  time  is  coming,  and  has  even  now 
arrived,  when  the  great  sense  of  justice  which  possesses  our  people 


64  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

will  teach  men  of  all  parties  that  party  success  is  not  to  be  pro- 
moted at  the  expense  of  an  injustice  to  any  of  our  citizens.  [Ap- 
plause.] These  things  take  hold  of  government.  If  we  would 
maintain  that  respect  for  the  law  which  is  necessary  to  social  order, 
our  people  must  understand  that  each  voter  lias  his  full  and  equal 
influence  in  determining  what  the  law  shall  be.  I  hope  this  ques- 
tion will  not  be  forgotten  by  our  people  until  we  have  secured  in 
Indiana  a  fair  apportionment  for  legislative  and  congressional  pur- 
poses. [Cheers.  ]  When  the  Republicans  shall  secure  the  power  of 
making  an  apportionment,  I  hope  and  believe  that  the  experiment 
of  seeking  a  party  advantage  by  a  public  injustice  will  not  be 
repeated.  [Great  applause  and  cries  of  "Good  !  Good  !"] 

There  are  some  other  questions  affecting  suffrage,  too,  to  which 
my  attention  has,  from  circumstances,  been  particularly  attracted. 
There  are  in  the  Northwest  several  Territories  organized  under 
public  law  with  defined  boundaries.  They  have  been  filled  up  with 
the  elect  of  our  citizens — the  brave,  the  enterprising  and  intelligent 
young  men  from  all  the  States.  Many  of  the  veterans  of  the  late 
war  have  sought  under  our  beneficent  homestead  law  new  homes 
in  the  West.  Several  of  these  Territories  have  been  for  years  pos- 
sessed of  population,  wealth,  and  all  the  requisites  for  admission 
as  States.  When  the  Territory  of  Indiana  took  the  census  which 
was  the  basis  for  its  petition  for  admission  to  the  Union  we  had 
less  than  64, 000  people  ?  we  had  only  thirteen  organized  counties. 
In  the  Territory  of  South  Dakota  there  are  nearly  half  a  million 
people.  For  years  they  have  been  knocking  for  admission  to  the 
sisterhood  of  States. 

They  are  possessed  of  all  the  elements  of  an  organized  and  stable 
community.  It  has  more  people,  more  miles  of  railroad,  more  post- 
offices,  more  churches,  more  banks,  more  wealth,  than  any  Territory 
ever  possessed  when  it  was  admitted  to  the  Union.  It  surpasses 
some  of  the  States  in  these  particulars.  Four  years  ago,  when  a 
President  was  to  be  chosen,  the  Committee  on  Territories  in  the 
Senate,  to  meet  the  objection  of  our  Democratic  friends  that  the 
admission  of  Dakota  would  add  a  disturbing  element  to  the  Elec- 
toral College,  provided  in  the  Dakota  bill  that  its  organization 
should  be  postponed  until  after  the  election  ;  now  four  years  more 
have  rolled  around,  and  our  people  are  called  again  to  take  part 
in  a  presidential  election,  and  the  intelligent  and  patriotic  Dakota 
people  are  again  to  be  deprived  of  any  participation.  I  ask  you 
why  this  is  so?  Is  not  the  answer  obvious?  [Cries  of  "Yes!"] 
They  are  disfranchised  and  deprived  of  their  appropriate  influence 
in  the  Electoral  College  only  because  the  prevailing  sentiment  in 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  65 

the  Territory  is  Republican.  [Cries  of  "That's  right!"  "That's the 
reason  !"]  The  cause  of  Washington  Territory  is  more  recent  but 
no  less  flagrant.  If  we  appropriately  express  sympathy  with  the 
cause  of  Irish  home  rule,  shall  we  not  also  demand  home  rule  for 
Dakota  and  Washington,  and  insist  that  their  disfranchisement 
shall  not  be  prolonged?  [Applause.]  There  is  a  sense  of  justice,  of 
fairness,  that  will  assert  itself  against  these  attempts  to  coin  party 
advantage  out  of  public  wrong.  The  day  when  men  can  be  dis- 
franchised or  shorn  of  their  political  power  for  opinion's  sake  must 
have  an  end  in  our  country.  [Cheers.  ]  I  thank  you  again  for 
your  call,  and  if  you  will  observe  the  arrangement  which  has  been 
suggested  I  will  be  glad  to  take  each  of  you  by  the  hand.  I  know 
that  some  of  you  are  fasting,  and  therefore  we  will  shorten  these 
exercises  in  order  that  you  may  obtain  needed  refreshments. 
[Cheers.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  28. 

JENNINGS  COUNTY,  Indiana,  was  represented  on  the 
above  date  by  a  large  delegation  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Harrison  and  Morton  Clubs  of  Vernon  and  North  Yernon. 
The  leaders  of  their  delegation  were  Fred  H.  Nauer,  J. 
C.  Cope,  C.  E.  Wagner,  W.  G.  Norris,  Dr.  T.  C.  Bachelder, 
T.  A.  Pearce,  P.  C.  McGannon,  and  Prof.  Amos  Saunders. 
Hon.  Frank  E.  Little,  President  of  the  North  Yernon 
Club,  delivered  the  address.  General  Harrison,  in  re- 
sponse, said: 

My  Friends — It  is  a  source  of  regret  to  me  that  I  can  do  so  little 
to  compensate  those  who  take  the  trouble  to  visit  me.  I  need 
hardly  say  to  you  that  I  very  highly  appreciate  this  evidence  of 
your  friendliness  and  also  the  kind  words  which  you  have  addressed 
to  me  through  your  representative.  Jennings  County  has  a  history 
of  which  it  may  well  be  proud.  It  has  contributed  to  the  city  of 
Indianapolis  some  of  our  most  distinguished  and  useful  men. 
Your  spokesman  has  not  exaggerated  the  fidelity  and  steadfastness 
of  the  people  of  your  county.  Your  republicanism  has  been  as 
straight  as  the  walls  of  your  cliffs  [applause]  and  as  solid  as  the 
limestone  with  which  your  hills  are  buttressed.  [Applause.  ] 

You  have  said  to  me  that  you  are  in  favor  of  a  free  and  equal 
ballot  the  country  over.  We  are  so  related  in  our  Government 
5 


66  HARRISON  S  SPEECHES. 

that  any  disturbance  of  the  suffrage  anywhere  directly  affects  us 
all  Our  Members  of  Congress  pass  upon  questions  that  are  as  wide 
as  the  domain  over  which  our  flag  floats.  Therefore,  our  interest 
in  the  choice  of  these  representatives  is  not  limited  to  our  own 
districts.  If  the  debate  upon  public  questions  is  to  be  of  value 
the  voter  must  be  free  to  register  his  conclusion.  The  tribunal 
which  is  to  pronounce  upon  the  argument  must  not  be  coerced. 

You  have  said  to  me  that  you  favor  the  doctrine  of  protection. 
The  Republican  party  stands  for  the  principles  of  protection.  We 
believe  in  the  preservation  of  the  American  market  for  our  Amer- 
ican producers  and  workmen.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  That's  it !"] 
We  believe  that  the  development  of  home  manufactures  tends 
directly  to  promote  the  interest  of  agriculture  by  furnishing  a 
home  market  for  the  products  of  the  farm,  and  thus  emancipating 
our  farmers  from  the  transportation  charges  which  they  must  pay 
when  their  products  seek  distant  markets.  [Applause.] 

W"e  are  confronted  now  with  a  Treasury  surplus.  Our  position 
is  exceptional.  We  are  not  seeking,  as  many  other  nations  are, 
new  subjects  of  taxation,  new  sources  of  revenue.  Our  quest  is 
now  how,  wisely,  to  reduce  our  national  revenue.  The  attempt 
has  been  made  to  use  this  surplus  as  a  lever  to  overturn  the  protec- 
tive system.  The  promoters  of  this  scheme,  while  professing  a 
desire  to  diminish  the  surplus,  have  acted  as  if  their  purpose  was 
to  increase  it  in  part  by  opposing  necessary  and  legitimate  appro- 
priations. I  agree  that  there  is  danger  that  a  surplus  may  promote 
extravagance,  but  I  do  not  find  myself  in  sympathy  with  that 
policy  that  denies  the  appropriation  necessary  for  the  proper  de- 
fence of  our  people,  and  for  the  convenient  administration  of  our 
public  affairs  throughout  the  country,  in  order  that  the  threat  of  a 
surplus  may  be  used  for  a  sinister  purpose.  I  believe  that  in  re- 
ducing our  revenues  to  the  level  of  our  needful  and  proper  expen- 
ditures we  can  and  should  continue  to  favor  and  protect  our 
industries.  I  do  not  like  to  entrust  this  work  to  those  who  declare 
protective  duties  to  be  vicious  "  legalized  robbery. "  The  Republican 
party  has  by  its  legislation  shown  its  capacity  wisely  to  reduce  our 
revenues  and  at  the  same  time  to  preserve  the  American  system. 
[Applause.  ]  It  can  be  trusted  to  do  the  work  that  remains,  and  to 
do  it  wisely.  [Applause.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  67 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JULY  31. 

THE  last  delegation  in  July  came  from  Henry  County, 
Indiana,  two  thousand  strong,  headed  by  C.  S.  Hernley, 
W.  H.  Elliott,  Hon.  Eugene  Bundy,  Judge  Mark  E.  Fork- 
ner,  A.  Abernathy,  A.  D.  Osborn,  O.  P.  M.  Hubbard,  David 
Luellen,  O.  B.  Mooney,  and  Captain  Armstrong,  all  of 
New  Castle.  Gen.  William  H.  Grose  was  their  orator. 

In  his  response  General  Harrison  at  this  early  day  out- 
lined his  views  upon  reciprocal  trade  relations  with  South 
American  nations — views  which  were  afterwards  success- 
fully, and  with  great  profit  to  our  people,  put  into  effect 
through  the  celebrated  reciprocity  treaties  with  Brazil, 
Venezuela  and  other  countries. 

Repeated  outbursts  of  enthusiasm  punctured  his  address. 
He  said : 

Comrade  Grose  and  my  Henry  County  Friends — If  \ve  have  here 
any  discouraged  statesman  who  takes  a  despondent  view  of  the 
future  of  the  country,  I  think  he  would  recover  his  hopefulness  if 
he  could  look,  once  in  awhile,  into  the  face  of  an  audience  like  this. 
[Applause.  ] 

You  came  from  a  county  that  has  been  a  bulwark  of  republi- 
canism since  the  party  was  organized.  You  had  an  early  element 
in  your  population  that  has  done  much  to  promote  your  material 
interests,  and,  much  more,  to  lift  up  those  principles  that  relate 
to  the  purity  of  the  home  and  to  the  freedom  of  men.  The  Friends, 
who  have  been  and  are  so  large  and  so  influential  an  element  in 
your  population  and  in  the  counties  surrounding  it,  are  a  people 
notable  for  the  purity  of  their  home  life  and  for  their  broad  and 
loving  sympathy  with  all  men.  They  were  the  early  enemies  of 
slavery,  and  they  have  always  naturally  been  the  strength  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  community  where  they  reside.  Your 
spokesman  has  expressed  your  continued  interest  in  the  party  to 
which  some  of  you  gave  the  confidence  of  your  matured  powers 
and  some  of  you  the  early  devotion  of  your  youth.  The  Repub- 
lican party  has  accomplished  for  the  country  a  great  work  in  the 
brief  period  of  its  life.  It  preserved  the  Nation  by  a  wise,  cour- 
ageous and  patriotic  administration.  What  that  means  for  you 
and  your  posterity,  what  it  means  for  the  world,  no  man  can  tell. 


fi8  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

It  would  have  been  a  climax  of  disaster  for  the  world  if  this  Gov- 
ernment of  the  people  had  perished.  The  one  unsolved  experiment 
of  free  government  was  solved.  We  have  demonstrated  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  people  and  a  citizen  soldiery  to  maintain  inviolate 
the  unity  of  the  Republic.  [Applause.  ] 

There  remain  now,  fortunately,  chiefly  economic  questions  to 
be  thought  of  and  to  be  settled.  We  refer  to  the  great  war,  not 
in  any  spirit  of  hostility  to  any  section  or  any  class  of  men,  but 
only  because  we  believe  it  to  be  good  for  the  whole  country  that 
loyalty  and  fidelity  to  the  flag  should  be  honored.  [Great  applause.  ] 
It  was  one  of  the  great  triumphs  of  the  war,  a  particular  in 
which  our  war  was  distinguished  from  all  other  wars  of  history, 
that  we  brought  the  vanquished  into  the  same  full,  equal  citizenship 
under  the  law  that  we  maintained  for  ourselves. 

In  all  the  addresses  which  have  been  made  to  me  there  has  been 
some  reference  to  the  great  question  of  the  protection  of  our  Ameri- 
can industries.  I  see  it  upon  the  banners  which  you  carry.  Our 
party  stands  unequivocally,  without  evasion  or  qualification,  for 
the  doctrine  that  the  American  market  shall  be  preserved  for  our 
American  producers.  [Great  applause.  ]  We  are  not  attracted  by 
the  suggestion  that  we  should  surrender  to  foreign  producers  the 
best  market  in  the  world.  Our  sixty  millions  of  people  are  the  best 
buyers  in  the  world,  and  they  are  such  because  our  working  classes 
receive  the  best  wages.  But  we  do  not  mean  to  be  content  with  our 
own  market.  We  should  seek  to  promote  closer  and  more  friendly 
commercial  relations  with  the  Central  and  South  American  States. 
[Applause.]  And  what  is  essential  to  that  end?  Regular  mails 
are  the  first  condition  of  commerce. 

The  merchant  must  know  when  his  order  will  be  received,  and 
when  his  consignment  will  be  returned,  or  there  can  be  no  trade 
between  distant  communities.  What  we  need,  therefore,  is  the 
establishment  of  American  steamship  lines  between  our  ports  and 
the  ports  of  Central  and  South  America.  [Applause.]  Then  it 
will  no  longer  be  necessary  that  an  American  minister,  commis- 
sioned to  an  American  State,  shall  take  an  English  ship  to  Liver- 
pool to  find  another  English  ship  to  carry  him  to  his  destination. 
We  are  not  to  be  frightened  by  the  use  of  that  ugly  \vord  "subsidy." 
[Laughter.]  We  should  pay  to  American  steamship  lines  a  liberal 
compensation  for  carrying  our  mails,  instead  of  turning  them  over 
to  British  tramp  steamships.  [Applause.]  We  do  not  desire  to 
dominate  these  neighboring  governments ;  we  do  not  desire  to  deal 
with  them  in  any  spirit  of  aggression.  We  desire  those  friendly 
political,  mental,  and  commercial  relations  which  shall  promote 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  09 

ttieir  interests  equally  icitlt  ours.  We  should  not  longer  forego 
those  commercial  relations  and  advantages  which  our  geographical 
relations  suggest  and  make  so  desirable.  If  you  will  excuse  me 
from  further  public  speech  I  will  be  glad  to  take  by  the  hand  my 
Henry  County  friends.  [Cheers.  ] 

Mr.  Harrison  arrived  home — after  the  Henry  County 
reception  in  University  Park — in  time  to  welcome  his 
guest,  Gen.  R.  A.  Alger  of  Michigan,  the  distinguished 
gentlemen  meeting  for  the  first  time.  In  the  afternoon 
several  hundred  of  the  Henry  County  visitors,  escorted 
by  the  local  clubs,  marched  to  the  Harrison  residence  to 
pay  their  respects  to  General  Alger. 

In  introducing  his  guest  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Fellow-citizens— I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  day  to  receive 
in  my  own  home  a  distinguished  citizen  of  a  neighboring  State  ; 
distinguished  not  only  for  his  relation  to  the  civil  administration 
of  affairs  in  his  State,  but  also  as  one  of  those  conspicuous 
soldiers  contributed  by  Michigan  to  the  armies  of  the  Union  when 
our  national  life  was  in  peril.  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  make 
broader  the  welcome  I  have  given  him,  and  to  show  him  that  he 
has  a  warm  place  in  the  affections  of  our  Indiana  people.  Let  me 
present  to  you  General  Alger  of  Michigan.  [Prolonged  applause.] 

General  Alger  responded  as  follows : 

Gentlemen— I  thank  you  very  much  for  this  cordial  greeting.  I 
thank  you  very  kindly,  General  Harrison,  for  the  pleasant  words 
you  have  said  of  me  personally.  I  wish  to  say— as  you  would 
know  if  you  lived  in  Michigan — that  I  am  not  a  speechmaker.  I 
composed  a  few  speeches  some  weeks  ago,  and  General  Harrison 
has  been  delivering  them  evei  since.  [Laughter.]  After  reading 
his  speeches  carefully,  each  one  of  them  a  gem  of  concentrated 
thought,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  the  Chicago  Convention  made 
no  mistake.  [Applause.]  We  have  not  held  any  post- mortem  in 
our  State,  We  are  glad  that  we  have  such  a  gallant  candidate,  a 
man  in  whose  composition  no  flaw  can  be  found,  in  whose  life  no 
act  or  word  can  be  adversely  criticised.  We  are  as  proud  in  Mich- 
igan of  your  candidate — who  is  our  candidate  also — as  we  could 
possibly  be  were  any  other  man  in  the  universe  named.  We  are 
all  Harrison  men  in  Michigan  now ;  and  the  place  he  has  in  our 
hearts  is  just  as  warm  as  though  he  lived  within  our  own  borders. 
[Applause.  ]  You  Hoosiers  have  no  patent  upon  this.  [Applause.  ] 


TO  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  a  great  crisis  before  them. 
The  question  as  to  the  life  and  prosperity  of  our  industrial  insti- 
tutions is  at  stake.  We  have,  as  we  have  always  had,  since  this 
country  was  worth  caring  for,  the  opposition  of  the  English 
Government. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  1. 

THE  month  of  August  opened  with  two  thousand  visitors 
from  Morgan  and  Brown  counties,  including  thirty  sur- 
vivors of  General  Harrison's  former  regiment.  The 
several  clubs  comprising  the  Brown  County  delegation  were 
led  by  Norman  J.  Roberts,  Leander  Woods,  Wm.  Griffin, 
E.  D.  Turner,  and  C.  W.  Mackenzie  of  Nashville. 

Prominent  in  the  Morgan  County  detachment  were  W. 
W.  Kennedy,  W.  C.  Banta,  John  Hardwick,  M.  G.  Branch, 
David  Wilson,  H.  C  Hodges,  R.  C.  Griffitt,  J.  G.  Bain, 
John  S.  Newby,  J.  G.  Kennedy,  U.  M.  Hinson,  Merwin 
Rowe,  Hon.  J.  H.  Jordan,  H.  R.  Butler,  W.  C.  Barnett, 
John  C.  Comer,  Geo.  Mitchell,  and  J.  I.  Hilton  of  Martins- 
ville.  Hon.  G.  A.  Adams  spoke  for  the  visitors. 

General  Harrison,  responding,  said : 

Mr,  Adams  and  my  Morgan  and  Brown  County  Friends — In  pre- 
vious campaigns  I  have  not  put  you  to  the  trouble  to  come  and  see 
me.  My  habit  has  been  to  go  to  you,  and  it  has  been  my  pleasure  often 
to  discuss  before  you  the  issues"  that  were  involved  in  our  cam- 
paigns. The  limitations  which  are  upon  me  now  prevent  me  from 
following  this  old  habit,  and  put  you,  who  desire  to  see  me,  to  the 
trouble  of  coming  here.  My  associations  with  the  county  of  Morgan 
have  been  very  close.  Among  its  citizens  are  some  of  my  most 
devoted  personal  and  political  friends.  There  are  also  in  your 
county  a  large  number  of  my  comrades,  to  whom  I  am  bound  by  the 
very  close  ties  that  must  always  unite  those  who  marched  under 
the  same  regimental  banner.  Your  county  furnished  two  com- 
panies for  the  Seventieth  Indiana — brave,  true  men,  commanded 
by  intelligent  and  capable  officers,  and  having  in  the  ranks  of  both 
companies  men  as  capable  of  command  as  any  who  wore  shoulder- 
straps  in  the  regiment.  These  men,  together  with  their  comrades 
of  the  Thirty-third  and  other  regiments  that  were  recruited  in 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  71 

your  county,  went  into  the  service  from  very  high  motives.  They 
heard  the  call  of  their*  country,  saying :  'k  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  or  wife  or  child  -or  houses  or  lands  more  than  me  is  not 
worthy  of  me,'1  and  they  were  found  worthy  by  this  supreme  test. 
Many  of  you  were  so  careless  of  a  money  recompense  for  the  service 
you  offered  and  gave  that  when  you  lifted  your  hands  and  swore 
to  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  and  the  flag  you  didn't  even 
know  what  your  pay  was  to  be.  [Cries  of  "That's  so  !'']  If  there 
was  any  carefulness  or  thought  in  that  direction  it  was  only  that 
the  necessary  provision  might  be  made  for  those  you  left  at  home. 
No  sordid  impulse,  no  low  emotion,  called  you  to  the  field. 
[Applause.  ]  In  remembering  all  the  pa  inful  ways  in  which  you 
walked,  ways  of  toil,  and  suffering,  and  sickness,  and  dying,  to 
emerge  into  the  glorious  sunlight  of  that  great  day  at  Washington,  we 
must  not  forget  that  in  the  homes  you  left  there  were  also  sacri- 
fices and  sufferings.  Anxiety  dwelt  perpetually  with  those  you 
left  behind.  We  remember  gratefully  the  sacrifices  and  sufferings 
of  the  fathers  and  mothers  who  sent  you  to  the  field,  and,  much 
more,  of  the  wives  who  bravely  gave  up  to  the  country  the  most 
cherished  objects  of  their  love.  And  now  peace  has  come ;  no 
hand  is  lifted  against  the  flag ;  the  Constitution  is  again  supreme 
and  the  Nation  one.  My  countrymen,  it  is  no  time  now  to  use  an 
apothecary's  scale  to  weigh  the  rewards  of  the  men  who  saved  the 
country.  [Applause.] 

If  you  will  pardon  me  I  will  not  further  follow  the  line  of  re- 
marks suggested  by  the  kind  words  you  have  addressed  to  me 
through  your  representative.  I  notice  the  limitation  which  your 
spokesman  has  put  upon  you,  but  I  beg  to  assure  him  and  you  that 
I  am  not  so  worn  that  I  have  not  the  strength  to  greet  any  of  you 
who  may  desire  to  greet  me.  [Great  applause.  J 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  3. 

ON  the  third  of  August,  with  the  mercury  registering 
ninety-nine  degrees,  thirty-five  hundred  visitors  arrived 
from  Montgomery  and  Clinton  counties,  Indiana.  Their 
parade,  carrying  miniature  log-cabins  and  other  emblems, 
was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  the 
campaign.  Fifty  voters  of  1840  headed  the  column  led  by 
Major  D.  K.  Price,  aged  92.  The  Montgomery  County 


72  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

delegation  was  marshalled  by  John  H.  Burford,  W.  W. 
Thornton,  T.  H.  B.  McCain,  John  S."  Brown,  E.  P.  Mc- 
Clarkey,  John  Johnson,  J.  R.  Bonnell,  D.  W.  Roundtree, 
T.  H.  Ristine,  H.  M.  Billingsley,  Dumont  Kennedy,  and 
Clerk  Hulett  of  Crawfordsville.  Their  spokesman  was 
Hon.  Peter  S.  Kennedy. 

Among  the  Clinton  County  leaders  were  Albert  H.  Coble, 
Edward  R.  Burns,  A.  T.  Dennis,  Wm.  H.  Staley,  R.  P. 
Shanklin,  S.  A.  Coulton,  J.  W.  Harrison,  J.  T.  Hockman, 
Nicholas  Rice,  Ambrose  Colby,  Oliver  Hedgecock,  and 
Dr.  Gard  of  Frankfort.  Judge  J.  C.  Suit  was  their  orator. 

In  reply  to  their  addresses  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — These  daily  and  increasing  delegations  com- 
ing to  witness  their  interest  in  the  great  issues  which  are  pre- 
sented for  their  consideration  and  determination,  and  bearing  as 
they  do  to  me  their  kind  personal  greetings,  quite  overmatch  my 
ability  to  fittingly  greet  and  respond  to  them. 

You  are  here  from  every  walk  in  life.  Some  of  you  have  achieved 
success  in  the  mechanical  arts,  some  in  professional  pursuits,  and 
more  of  you  come  from  that  first  great  pursuit  of  man — the  tilling 
of  the  soil — and  you  come  to  express  the  thought  that  you  have 
common  interests ;  that  these  diverse  pursuits  are  bound  together 
harmoniously  in  a  common  governmental  policy  and  administra- 
tion. Your  interests  have  had  a  harmonious  and  an  amazing 
growth  under  that  protective  system  to  which  your  representatives 
have  referred,  and  you  wisely  demand  a  continuation  of  that  policy 
for  their  further  advancement  and  development.  [Applause.  ]  You 
are  in  large  part  members  of  the  Republican  party.  You  have  in 
the  past  contributed  your  personal  influence,  as  well  as  your  ballots, 
to  the  great  victories  which  it  lias  won.  Among  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  our  party  I  think  we  may  worthily  mention  the  passage 
of  that  beneficent  act  of  legislation  known  as  the  "  homestead  law. " 
It  was  impossible  to  the  old  parties.  It  was  possible  only  to  a 
party  composed  of  the  sturdy  yeomanry  of  the  free  States.  [Ap- 
plause.] It  has  populated  our  Territories  and  newer  States  with 
the  elect  of  our  citizenship.  It  opened  a  way  to  an  ownership  of 
the  soil  to  a  vast  number  of  our  citizens,  and  there  is  no  surer 
bond  in  the  direction  of  good  citizenship  than  that  our  people 
should  have  property  in  the  soil  upon  which  they  live.  It  is  one 
of  the  best  elements  of  our  strength  as  a  State  that  our  farm- lands 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  73 

are  so  largely  possessed  in  small  tracts,  and  are  tilled  by  the  men 
who  own  them.  It  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  prosperity 
of  our  cities  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  men  who  work  are 
covered  by  their  own  roof  trees.  If  we  would  perpetuate  this 
condition,  we  must  maintain  the  American  scale  of  wages. 
[Applause.]  The  policy  of  the  subdivision  of  the  soil  is  one  that 
tends  to  strengthen  our  national  life.  God  grant  that  it  may  be 
long  before  we  have  in  this  country  a  tenantry  that  is  hopelessly 
such  from  one  generation  to  another.  [Applause.  ]  That  condition 
of  things  which  makes  Ireland  a  land  of  tenants,  and  which  holds 
in  vast  estates  the  lands  of  England,  must  never  rind  footing  here. 
[Applause.]  Small  farms  invite  the  church  and  the  school-house 
into  the  neighborhood.  Therefore,  it  was  in  the  beginning  the 
Republican  party  declared  for  free  homes  of  a  quarter-section  each. 
That  policy  should  be  perpetuated  as  long  as  our  public  domain 
lasts,  and  all  our  legislation  should  tend  in  the  direction  which  I 
have  indicated.  I  cannot  discuss  all  the  important  questions 
to  which  you  have  called  my  attention.  I  have  before  alluded  to 
some  of  them.  My  Montgomery  and  Clinton  county  friends,  I 
thank  you  for  the  cordial  and  hopeful  words  you  have  addressed  to 
me.  My  highest  ambition  is  to  be  found  worthy  of  your  respect 
and  confidence.  [Applause.] 

To  these  veterans  of  1840  WT!IO  kindly  transfer  to  this  the  interest 
they  felt  in  that  campaign,  to  these  first  voters  who  come  to  join 
us  with  the  high  impulses  of  youth,  I  desire  to  extend  my  sincere 
thanks.  [Applause.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  4. 

THE  most  remarkable  night  demonstration  of  the  cam- 
paign occurred  August  4,  the  occasion  being  the  visit  of 
the  Harrison  and  Morton  Eailroad  Club  of  Terre  Haute, 
a  thousand  strong.  They  were  met  by  twelve  hundred 
members  of  the  Indianapolis  Railroad  Club,  and,  escorted 
by  several  thousand  citizens,  marched  to  the  Harrison  resi- 
dence. 

At  the  head  of  the  column  rolled  the  model  of  a  monster 
locomotive,  emitting  fire  and  smoke  and  bearing  the  sig- 
nificant number  544.  Hundreds  of  stores  and  residences 
along  the  line  of  march  were  illuminated. 


74  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

At  the  head  of  the  visiting  club  marched  its  officers: 
President,  D.  T.  Downs;  Secretary,  Chas.  E.  Carter;  Treas- 
urer, Beirj.  McKeen;  and  Vice-Presidents,  R.  B.  Woolsey, 
J.  L.  Pringle,  J.  N.  Evanhart,  E.  G.  South,  L.  M.  Murphy, 
H.  M.  Kearns,  George  Leckert,  and  W.  H.  Miller. 

President  Downs  delivered  an  address  and  presented  an 
engrossed  copy  of  the  club  roster.  General  Harrison  spoke 
from  a  stand  in  front  of  his  residence,  and  said : 

Mr.  Downs,  Gentlemen  of  the  Terre  Haute  Railroad  Club,  and 
Fellow  citizens — I  am  amazed  and  gratified  at  the  character  of 
this  demonstration  to-night.  I  do  not  find  words  to  express  the 
emotions  which  swell  in  my  heart  as  I  look  into  your  faces  and 
listen  to  the  kindly  greetings  which  you  have  given  me  through 
your  representative.  He  has  not  spoken  in  too  high  praise  of  the 
railroad  men  of  the  United  States.  The  character  of  the  duties  they 
are  called  to  discharge  require  great  intelligence,  in  many  depart- 
ments the  best  skill  in  the  highest  mechanic  arts,  and  in  all,  even 
in  the  lowest  grade  of  labor  in  connection  with  railroad  manage- 
ment, there  is  required,  for  the  safety  of  the  public  who  entrust 
themselves  to  your  care,  fidelity  and  watchfulness,  not  only  in  the 
day,  but  in  the  darkness.  The  man  who-  attends  the  switch,  the 
trackman  who  observes  the  condition  of  the  track — all  these  have 
put  into  their  charge  and  keeping  the  lives  of  men  and  women 
and  the  safety  of  our  commerce.  Therefore  it  is  that  the  exigencies 
of  the  service  in  which  you  are  engaged  have  operated  to  select  and 
call  into  the  service  of  our  great  railroad  corporations  a  picked 
body  of  men.  I  gratefully  acknowledge  to-night  the  service  you 
render  to  the  country  of  which  I  am  a  citizen.  The  great  impor- 
tance of  the  enterprises  with  which  you  are  connected  have  already 
suggested  to  our  legislators  that  they  owe  duties  to  you  as  well 
as  to  the  travelling  and  mercantile  public.  The  Congress  of  the 
United  States  has,  under  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which 
commits  to  its  care  all  foreign  and  interstate  commerce,  undertaken 
to  regulate  the  great  interstate  railroads  in  the  interest  of  equal  and 
fair  competition  and  in  the  equal  interest  of  all  members  of  our 
communities.  I  do  not  doubt  that  certain  and  necessary  provisions 
for  the  safety  of  the  men  who  operate  these  roads  will  yet  be  made 
compulsory  by  public  and  general  law.  [Applause.]  The  dangers 
connected  with  your  calling  are  very  great,  and  the  public  interest, 
as  well  as  your  own,  requires  that  they  should  be  reduced  to  the 
minimum.  I  do  not  doubt  that  we  shall  yet  require  that  uniformity 


HARRISON'S   SPEECHES.  75 

in  the  construction  of  railroad  cars  that  will  diminish  the  danger 
of  those  who  must  pass  between  them  in  order  to  make  up  trains, 
[Applause.  ]  I  do  not  doubt,  either,  that  as  these  corporations  are 
not  private  corporations,  but  are  recognized  by  the  law  to  which  I 
have  referred  and  by  the  uniform  decisions  of  our  courts  as  having 
public  relations,  we  shall  yet  see  legislation  in  the  direction  of 
providing  some  suitable  tribunal  of  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of 
differences  between  railroad  men  and  the  companies  that  engage 
their  services.  [Great  applause.  ]  I  believe  that  in  these  directions, 
and  others  that  I  have  not  time  to  suggest,  reforms  will  work  them- 
selves out,  with  exact  justice  to  the  companies  and  with  justice  to 
the  men  they  employ.  Because,  my  friends,  I  do  not  doubt— and  I 
hope  you  will  never  allow  yourselves  to  doubt — that  the  great  mass 
of  our  people,  of  .all  vocations  and  callings,  love  justice  and  right 
and  hate  oppression.  [Applause.]  The  laboring  men  of  this  land 
may  safely  trust  every  just  reform  in  which  they  are  interested  to 
public  discussion  and  to  the  logic  of  reason  ;  they  may  surely  hope, 
upon  these  lines,  which  are  open  to  you  by  the  ballot-box,  to  ac- 
complish under  our  American  institutions  all  those  right  things 
you  have  conceived  as  necessary  to  your  highest  success  and  well- 
being.  Do  not  allow  yourselves  to  doubt,  for  one  moment,  the 
friendly  sentiment  of  the  great  masses  of  our  people.  Make  your 
appeal  wisely,  and  calmly,  and  boldly,  for  every  reform  you 
desire,  to  that  sentiment  of  justice  which  pervades  our  American 
public.  [Applause.  ] 

You  come  to-night  from  one  of  our  most  beautiful  Indiana  cities. 
It  was  built  on  the  Wabash  in  the  expectation  that  that  stream 
would  furnish  the  channel  of  its  communication  with  the  outside 
world.  But  the  Wabash  is  a  small  tributary  to-day  to  the  com- 
merce of  Terre  Haute.  The  railroads  that  span  it  are  the  great 
vehicles  of  your  commerce.  They  have  largely  superseded  the 
water  communication  that  was  deemed  so  important  in  the  first 
settlement,  and,  perhaps,  was  so  decisive  in  the  location  of  your 
city.  Terre  Haute  is  conspicuous  for  its  industries.  The  smoke  of 
your  factories  goes  up  night  and  day.  The  farms  about  your  city 
have  become  gardens,  and  the  cordial  and  harmonious  relations 
between  the  railroad  shop  and  the  factory  and  the  farms  that  lie 
about  have  a  conspicuous  illustration  with  you.  You  have  found 
that  that  policy  which  built  up  these  shops,  which  maintains  them, 
which  secures  the  largest  output  yearly  from  the  factories,  which 
gives  employment  to  the  largest  number  of  men,  is  the  best  thing 
not  only  for  the  railroads  that  do  the  transportation,  but  for  the 
workingmen,  who  iind  steady  employment  at  good  wages,  and  for 


76  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  farmers,  who  supply  their  needs.  [Applause.  ]  You  will  not 
willingly  be  led  to  believe  that  any  policy  that  would  check  the 
progress  and  the  prosperity  of  these  enterprises  is  good  for  you  or  for 
the  community  in  which  you  live.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "No, 
never !"]  It  will  be  hard  to  convince  such  an  intelligent  body  of 
workingmen  that  a  policy  which  would  transfer  from  this  country 
to  any  other  the  work  that  might  be  done  here  is  good  for  them. 
[Applause.  ]  It  can  easily  be  demonstrated  that  if  our  revenue  laws 
were  so  adjusted  that  the  imports  from  Great  Britain  should  be 
doubled  it  would  be  good  for  the  workingmen  of  England,  but  I 
think  it  would  be  hard  to  demonstrate  that  it  would  be  good  for 
the  workingmen  of  America.  [Applause.  ]  There  is  a  wise  selfish- 
ness ;  it  begins  at  home,  and  he  who  has  the  care  of  his  own  fam- 
ily first,  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  of  the  nation  of  which 
he  is  a  citizen,  is  wise  in  his  generation. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  have  been  daily  talking.  I  used  to  be 
thought  by  my  friends  to  be  a  reticent  man.  [Laughter.]  I  fear 
I  am  making  an  impression  that  I  am  garrulous.  [Cries  of  "No! 
No !"]  And  yet,  when  friends  such  as  you  take  the  trouble  you 
have  to-night  to  visit  me,  I  feel  that  I  owe  it  to  you  to  say  some- 
thing. 

Now,  thanking  you  for  this  roster,  which  will  furnish  authentic 
evidence,  if  it  is  challenged,  that  this  visit  to-night  has  been  from 
genuine  railroad  men  [applause] ,  I  venture  to  invite  my  Terre  Haute 
friends  to  enter  my  house.  1  will  ask  the  citizens  of  Indianapolis, 
the  escort  club  of  my  own  home,  railroad  friends  who  have  done 
so  much  to  make  your  coming  here  to-night  pleasant,  to  kindly 
refrain  themselves,  and  allow  me  to  greet  the  visitors.  In  order 
that  that  may  be  accomplished,  I  will  ask  some  of  my  Terre  Haute 
friends  to  place  themselves  by  the  door,  that  I  may  meet  those  who 
are  of  their  company.  The  others  I  have  seen,  or  will  see  some 
other  day. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  6. 

MONDAY,  August  G,  General  Harrison  received  a  visit 
from  one  hundred  members  of  the  Kansas  City  Elaine 
Club,  accompanied  by  many  ladies,  en  route  to  New  York 
to  welcome  the  Maine  statesman  on  his  return  from  Europe. 
Col.  R.  H.  Hunt  led  the  club,  and  delivered  a  stirring 
address  on  behalf  of  the  Republicans  of  Missouri.  On  con- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  77 

eluding  he  introduced  Miss  Abbie  Burgess,  who  presented 
the  General  a  beautiful  badge  inscribed  "  The  Kansas  City 
Elaine  Club  Greet  Their  Next  President."  Miss  Burgess 
made  the  presentation  in  the  name  of  the  working- women 
of  America. 

General  Harrison  responded  briefly  to  these  addresses, 
stating  that  he  found  he  had  been  talking  a  great  deal  of 
late;  "but,"  he  added,  "I  never  begin  it;  some  one  else 
always  starts  it."  He  returned  his  cordial  thanks  to  the 
visitors  for  the  compliment  of  their  call. 

Speaking  of  the  trip  which  the  visitors  were  making,  he 
commended  its  purpose  in  meeting  upon  his  return  to 
America  "  that  matchless  defender  of  Republican  princi- 
ples— James  G.  Blaine. "  He  felt  sure  that  no  circumstance 
would  be  omitted  in  doing  him  merited  honor.  He  was 
glad  to  know  that  the  Republicans  of  Missouri  are  so  zealous 
and  aggressive.  He  believed  that  they  had,  perhaps,  too 
much  acquiesced  in  the  majorities  against  them,  and  had 
not  offered  such  resistance  as  would  prove  their  own 
strength.  In  the  coming  canvass  he  thought  the  economic 
questions  at  issue  ought  to  work  to  the  interest  of  Repub- 
licans in  Missouri  and  overcome  in  part  the  prevailing 
Democratic  prejudices  there.  He  also  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  race  question  would  cease  to  divide  men  by  preju- 
dices that  should  long  ago  have  become  extinct. 

In  reply  to  Miss  Burgess'  address  the  General  expressed 
his  grateful  appreciation  of  the  souvenir,  and  said 
that  the  women  of  the  land  could  never  be  forgotten.  To 
those  of  them  who  are  toilers  for  their  daily  bread  the 
first  thought  goes  out  in  considering  the  question  that 
involves  depreciation  of  wages,  and  concluded  by  declar- 
ing if  cheaper  coats  and  cheaper  garments  were  to  be  had 
by  still  further  reducing  the  wages  of  the  sewing-women 
of  America,  then  he  was  not  in  favor  of  cheaper  apparel. 


78  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  7. 

INDIANAPOLIS  contained  several  thousand  visitors  at  this 
period,  in  attendance  on  the  State  convention ;  in  addition 
to  these,  however,  on  the  seventh  of  August  two  large 
delegations  arrived.  The  first  came  from  Tippecanoe 
County.  The  city  of  Lafayette  was  represented  by  the  Lin- 
coln Club,  H.  C.  Tinney,  President;  the  Garfield  Club, 
Henry  Vinton,  President ;  and  the  Young  Men's  Republican 
Club  Association.  Among  other  prominent  members  of 
the  delegation  were  James  M.  Reynolds,  N.  I.  Throckmor- 
ton,  W.  H.  Caulkins,  Charles  E.  Wilson,  Wm.  Fraser, 
John  B.  Sherwood,  Charles  Terry,  John  Opp,  Alexander 
Stidham,  ^Matt  Heffner,  S.  Vater,  Maurice  Mayerstein, 
Geo.  A.  Harrison,  W.  D.  Hilt,  P.  W.  Sheehan,  C.  H.  Hen- 
derson, Henry  Marshall,  J.  W.  Jefferson,  Wm.  E.  Beach, 
John  B.  Gault,  and  H.  M.  Carter.  Hon.  B.  Wilson  Smith 
delivered  an  address  on  behalf  of  his  townsmen. 

General  Harrison,  in  his  response,  touched  upon  the 
origin  and  principles  of  the  Republican  party.  He  said : 

Mr.  Smith  and  my  Tippecanoe  County  Friends — lam  very  grateful 
for  the  evidence  which  you  give  me  this  morning  by  your  presence, 
and  by  the  kind  words  which  your  representative  has  addressed 
to  me,  of  your  respect  and  good-will.  You  are  members,  in  great 
part,  of  a  party  that  was  not  machine-made.  It  had  its  birth  in  an 
impulse  that  stirred  simultaneously  the  hearts  of  those  who  loved 
liberty.  The  first  convention  of  our  party  did  not  organize  it. 
Those  men  were  great,  but  they  were  delegates — representatives  of 
principles  which  had  already  asserted  their  power  over  the  con- 
sciences and  the  hearts  of  the  people.  [Applause.  ]  The  Republican 
party  did  not  organize  for  spoils ;  it  assembled  about  an  altar  of 
sacrifice  and  in  a  sanctuary  beset  with  enemies.  You  have  not 
forgotten  our  early  battle-cry — "Free  speech,  a  free  press,  free 
schools  and  free  Territories. "  We  have  widened  the  last  word  ;  it 
is  now  "  a  free  Nation. "  The  appeals  which  we  have  made  and 
shall  yet  make  are  addressed  to  the  hearts,  the  consciences,  and  to 
the  mind  of  our  people.  Therefore,  we  believe  in  schools  and 
colleges,  and  seminaries  of  learning.  Education  is  the  great  con- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  79 

servative  and  assimilating  force.  A  doubter  is  not  necessarily  an 
evil  person.  The  capacity  to  doubt  implies  reason — the  power  of 
solving  doubts ;  and  if  the  doubt  is  accompanied  with  a  purpose  to 
find  the  truth  and  a  supreme  affection  for  the  truth  when  it  is 
found,  he  will  not  go  widely  astray.  Therefore,  in  our  political 
campaigns  let  men  think  for  themselves,  and  the  truth  will  assert 
its  sway  over  the  minds  of  our  people.  Then  everything  that 
affects  the  record  and  character  of  the  candidate  and  the  principles 
of  the  parties  will  be  brought  to  a  safe  tribunal  whose  judgment 
will  be  right.  [Great  applause  and  cries  of  ''Good !"] 

I  am  not  unaware  of  the  fact  that  some  of  you  had  another  con- 
vention preference,  but  I  have  always  believed  that  convention  pref- 
erences should  be  free  in  the  Republican  party  [applause],  and  that 
no  prejudice  should  follow  any  Republican  on  account  of  that  pref- 
erence. As  party  men,  we  will  judge  a  man  by  his  post-conven- 
tion conduct. 

The  second  delegation  comprised  fifteen  hundred  citizens 
from  Vanderburg  County.  The  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Evans- 
ville,  with  sixty  veterans,  led  the  column. 

Leaders  in  the  delegation  were  ex-Congressman  Heil- 
man,  Henry  S.  Bennett,  Chas.  H.  McCarer,  J.  E.  Iglehart, 
W.  A.  Wheeler,  C.  R.  Howe,  J.  W.  Compton,  S.  B.  San- 
som,  S.  A.  Bate,  John  H.  Osborn,  John  W.  Davidson, 
Henry  Ludwig,  Wm.  Koelling,  A.  S.  Glover,  J.  W.  Roel- 
ker,  R.  C.  Wilkinson,  James  D.  Parvin,  Wm.  Warren, 
Chas.  L.  Roberts,  and  Geo.  N.  Wells. 

Dr.  W.  G.  Ralston  delivered  an  address  in  the  name  of 
the  delegation. 

General  Harrison,  in  reply,  said : 

My  Good  Friends  from  the  Pocket — I  feel  very  much  complimented 
by  your  visit  to-day.  Your  coming  here  from  so  great  a  distance 
involved  much  inconvenience  which  those  who  live  nearer  have  not 
experienced  You  are  geographically  remote,  but  it  does  not  follow 
from  that  that  you  are  remote  from  the  sources  of  political  influ- 
ence and  political  power. 

The  General  then  spoke  of  the  extension  of  the  Republican  party 
from  the  lakes  to  the  Ohio  in  Indiana  and  all  over  the  North,  say- 
ing that  geographical  lines  marked  its  limits  only  in  the  South. 
He  said  that  the  people  of  Vanderburg  County,  living  as  they  did 
on  the  Ohio  River,  a  river  that  some  men  sought  to  make  the  divis- 


80  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

ion  line  between  two  governments,  knew  what  it  was  to  guard 
their  homes  and  what  it  was  to  send  out  veterans  from  the  sturdy 
yeomanry  to  tne  defence  of  their  country.  He  referred  in  the  high- 
est terms  to  General  Shackelford  and  his  service  in  the  hour  of  his 
country's  need.  "I  greet  you  to-day,"  he  continued,  "as  Republi- 
cans— men  whose  judgment  and  conscience  compel  their  political 
opinions.  It  does  not  fall  to  my  lot  now  to  argue  or  discuss  at 
length  any  of  the  great  political  questions  of  the  day.  I  have  done 
that  in  the  past.  It  is  reserved  for  others  in  this  campaign.  I 
recall  with  pleasure  my  frequent  visits  to  you  and  your  cordial 
reception  when  I  came  to  speak  to  you.  In  this  contest  others  will 
maintain  before  you  that  great  policy  which,  we  believe,  dignifies 
eveiy  American,  both  at  home  and  abroad. " 

Speaking  in  reference  to  wages,  General  Harrison  said  that  he 
thought  we  often  forget  the  women  who  were  compelled  to  work 
for  their  daily  bread.  He  sometimes  thought  those  persons  who 
demand  cheaper  coats  would  be  ashamed  of  themselves  if  they 
could  realize  that  their  demand  cut  the  wages  of  the  women  who 
made  these  coats.  In  concluding,  he  greeted  and  thanked  the 
Tippecanoe  Club  for  coming,  and  the  Young  Men's  Republican 
Club  also,  saying  that  he  had  heard  of  their  efficient  work  in  the 
highest  terms  of  praise. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  8. 
The  Republican  State  Convention. 

THE  Republican  State  Convention  convened  at  Tomlinson 
Hall,  city  of  Indianapolis,  August  8,  1888,  and  concluded  its 
work  in  one  day. 

It  was  the  largest  attended  and  most  enthusiastic  con- 
vention ever  held  in  Indiana.  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Calkins  of 
Indianapolis  was  chosen  Chairman,  and  Mark  L.  De 
Motte  of  Valparaiso  Secretary.  The  following  ticket  was 
nominated,  and  in  November  triumphantly  elected : 

Governor — Alvin  P.  Hovey,  Posey  County. 

Lieutenant- Governor — Ira  J. Chase,  Hendricks  County. 

Secretary  of  State— Charles  F.  Griffin,  Lake  County. 

Auditor  of  State — Bruce  Carr,  Orange  County. 

Treasurer — J.  A.  Lemcke,  Vaiiderburg  County. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  81 

Attorney- General — L.  T.  Michner,  Shelby  County. 

Superintendent  Public  Instruction — H.  M.  LaFollette, 
Boone  County. 

Reporter  Supreme  Court — John  L.  Griffiths,  Marion 
County. 

JUDGES   OF    SUPREME    COURT. 

First  District— Silas  T.  Coffey,  Clay  County. 

Second  District — J.  G.  Berkshire,  Jennings  County. 

Fourth  District — Walter  Olds,  Whitely  County. 

Electors-at-Large — James  M.  Shackelford,  Yanderburg 
County ;  Thomas  H.  Nelson,  Vigo  County. 

Judge  Gardner,  a  delegate  from  Daviess  County,  intro- 
duced a  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted  midst 
great  enthusiasm,  inviting  General  Harrison  to  visit  the 
convention,  and  designating  Hon.  Richard  W.  Thompson, 
John  W.  Linck  and  E.  P.  Hammond  a  committee  to  convey 
the  invitation. 

On  the  platform,  with  the  presiding  officer,  to  meet  the 
distinguished  guest  were  the  Hon.  James  N.  Huston,  Hon. 
John  M.  Butler,  Hon.  Will  Cumback,  William  Wallace, 
Hon.  W.  P.  Fishback,  Hon.  A.'  C.  Harris,  Rev.  Dr.  Backus, 
Judge  E.  B.  Martindale,  General  Thomas  Bennett,  Judge 
J.  H.  Jordan,  and  the  Republican  State  officials. 

The  entrance  of  General  Harrison,  escorted  by  the  com- 
mittee, was  followed  by  a  tumultuous  scene  rarely  wit- 
nessed outside  of  a  national  convention,  the  demonstration 
lasting  nearly  ten  minutes.  Chairman  Calkins  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  introducing  —  "  the  next  President" — and  Gen- 
eral Harrison  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — When  I  received 
your  invitation  to  appear  for  a  moment  before  you  I  felt  that  what 
you  asked  could  not  involve  any  indelicacy,  and  as  it  offered  me 
the  only  opportunity  which  I  shall  have  to  look  into  the  faces  of  my 
Indiana  Republican  friends  here  assembled,  I  could  not  find  it  in 
my  heart  to  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  spending  a  moment  in 

your  presence.      [Applause.]     This  enthusiastic  and  kindly  recep- 
6 


82  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

tion  crowns  a  long  series  of  friendly  acts  on  the  part  of  my  Repub- 
lican friends  of  Indiana.  •  To  have  your  confidence  is  very  grateful 
to  me ,  to  be  worthy  of  your  confidence  is  the  highest  ambition  I 
can  set  before  me.  [Applause.]  Whatever  may  befall  me,  I  feel 
that  my  fellow-citizens  of  Indiana  have  crowned  me  and  made  me 
forever  their  debtor.  [Applause.  ]  But  I  must  not  detain  you  from 
the  business  which  has  brought  you  here.  [Cries  of  "Go  on!"] 
Such  an  assemblage  as  this  is  characteristic  of  America.  What 
you  shall  do  to-day  will  influence  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the 
State.  Such  a  meeting  is  a  notable  historical  event.  We  have 
to-day  transpiring  in  this  country  two  other  events  that  are  attract- 
ing wide  interest.  At  the  chief  seaport  of  our  country  that  great 
Republican,  and  that  great  American,  James  G.  Blaine,  returns  to 
his  home.  [Applause.  ]  We  shall  not  be  disappointed,  I  hope,  in 
hearing  his  powerful  voice  in  Indiana  before  the  campaign  is  old. 
[Applause.]  Another  scene  attracts  our  solemn  and  even  tearful 
interest,  for  while  you  are  transacting  your  business  here  to-day 
a  draped  train  is  bearing  from  the  place  of  his  sojourn  by  the  sea 
to  the  place  of  his  interment  at  Washington  the  mortal  part  of 
Philip  H.  Sheridan.  From  the  convention  at  Chicago  we  sent  him 
our  greetings  and  our  earnest  prayers  for  his  restoration.  To-day 
we  mourn  our  hero  dead.  You  called  him  then  a  favorite  child  of 
victory,  and  such  he  was.  He  was  one  of  those  great  commanders 
who,  upon  the  field  of  battle,  towered  a  very  god  of  war.  [Applause.  ] 
He  was  one  of  those  earnest  fighters  for  his  country  who  did  not 
at  the  end  of  his  first  day's  fight  contemplate  rest  and  recuperation 
for  his  own. command.  He  rested  and  refreshed  his  command  with 
the  wine  of  victory,*  and  found  recuperation  in  the  dispersion  of 
the  enemy  that  confronted  him.  [Great  applause.]  This  gallant 
son  of  Ireland  and  America  [great  applause]  has  written  a  chapter 
in  the  art  of  war  that  will  not  fail  to  instruct  and  to  develop,  when 
the  exigencies  may  come  again,  others  who  shall  repeat  in  defence 
of  our  flag  his  glorious  achievements.  [Great  applause.] 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  and  gentlemen,  I  am  sure  the  heat  of 
this  hall  and  the  labors  that  are  before  you  suggest  to  you,  as  they 
do  to  me,  that  I  shall  close  these  remarks  and  bid  you  good  by. 
[Great  applause.  J 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  83 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  14 

GODFREY  COMMANDERY,  Knights  Templars,  of  Chicago, 
colored  men,  en  route  to  the  Grand  Conclave  at  Louis- 
ville, paid  their  respects  to  General  Harrison  011  the  13th, 
and  were  individually  presented  by  Eminent  Commander 
H.  S.  Cooper.  On  August  14  the  visitors  aggregated 
6,000. 

The  first  delegation  came  from  Hamilton  County,  In- 
diana, headed  by  eighty  veterans  of  the  Tippecanoe  Club, 
Charles  Swain,  President.  There  were  nine  Lincoln 
League  organizations  in  line.  Among  the  leaders  were  J. 
K.  Bush,  J.  E.  Walker,  F.  B.  Pfaff,  J.  R.  Christian,  Benj. 
Goldsmith,  Ike  Hiatt,  and  C.  R.  Davis,  of  Noblesville,  and 
Captain  Carl,  of  Arcadia.  Hon.  J.  K.  Gray  was  their 
spokesman. 

General  Harrison,  in  reply,  said : 

Colonel  Gray  and  my  Hamilton  County  Friends — The  demonstra- 
tion which  you  have  made  this  morning  is  worthy  of  Hamilton 
County  ,  it  is  worthy  of  the  great  party  to  which  you  have  given 
the  consent  of  your  minds  and  the  love  of  your  hearts  ;  it  is  alto- 
gether more  than  worthy  of  him  whom  you  have  come  to  greet. 
You  come  from  a  county  that,  as  your  spokesman  has  said,  is 
greatly  favored,  a  county  rich  in  its  agricultural  capacity ;  but,  as 
I  look  into  your  faces  this  morning  I  turn  from  the  contemplation 
of  material  wealth  to  the  thought  of  those  things  that  are  higher 
and  better.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good  !  Good  !"]  Not  long  ago 
a  distinguished  Englishman  and  jurist  visited  our  country.  On 
the  eve  of  his  return,  in  a  public  address,  he  alluded  to  the  fact 
that  wherever  he  went  he  was  asked  whether  he  was  not  amazed  at 
the  great  size  of  our  country.  This  student  of  law  and  government 
very  kindly,  but  very  decidedly,  rebuked  this  too  prevalent  pride 
of  bulk,  and  called  our  attention  to  the  finer  and  higher  things 
that  he  had  observed  in  our  American  civilization. 

So  to-day,  as  I  look  into  these  intelligent  faces,  my  thoughts  are 
turned  away  from  those  things  that  are  scheduled,  that  have  their 
places  i'n  our  census  returns,  to  those  things  which  belong  to  the 
higher  man— his  spiritual  and  moral  nature.  [Applause.  ]  1  con- 


84  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

gratulate  you,  not  so  much  upon  the  rich  farm  lands  of  your  county 
as  upon  your  virtuous  and  happy  homes.  [Applause.  ]  The  home 
is  the  best,  as  it  is  the  first,  school  of  good  citizenship.  It  is  the 
great  conservative  and  assimilating  force.  I  should  despair  for  my 
country  if  American  citizens  were  to  be  trained  only  in  our  schools, 
valuable  as  their  instruction  is.  It  is  in  the  home  that  we  first 
learn  obedience  and  respect  for  law.  Parental  authority  is  the 
type  of  beneficent  government.  It  is  in  the  home  that  we  learn 
to  love,  in  the  mother  that  bore  us,  that  which  is  virtuous,  con- 
secrated, and  pure.  [Applause.  ]  I  take  more  pride  in  the  fact  that 
the  Republican  party  has  always  been  the  friend  and  protector  of 
the  American  home  than  in  aught  else.  [Applause.  ]  By  the  benefi- 
cent homestead  law  it  created  more  than  half  a  million  of  homes ; 
by  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  it  converted  a  million  cattle- 
pens  into  homes.  [Applause  ]  And  it  is  still  true  to  those  princi- 
ples that  will  preserve  contentment  and  prosperity  in  our  homes. 
I  greet  you  as  men  who  have  been  nurtured  in  such  homes,  and 
call  your  thought  to  the  fact  that  the  Republican  party  has  always 
been,  and  can  be  trusted  to  be,  friendly  to  all  that  will  promote 
virtue,  intelligence  and  morality  in  the  homes  of  our  people. 
Now,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  I  must  greet  other  delegations  to- 
day [ories  of  "Don't  stop!7'],  I  am  sure  you  will  be  content  with 
these  brief  remarks,  though  they  are  altogether  an  inadequate  re- 
turn for  your  cordial  demonstration. 

The  other  delegations  of  the  day  came  from  Macon  and 
Douglas  counties,  Illinois,  numbering  3,000.  A  notable 
feature  of  the  Douglas  County  display  was  the  tattered  old 
battle-flag  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Regiment — General 
Grant's  original  regiment — borne  by  seven  survivors. 

Capt.  T.  D.  Minturn,  of  Tuscola,  was  spokesman.  At 
the  head  of  the  Macon  County  column  marched  300  uni- 
formed members  of  the  Young  Men's  Republican  Club  of 
Decatur,  led  by  Captain  Wm.  M.  Strange  and  Wm.  Fra- 
zier;  Prof.  L.  A.  Estes,  of  Westfield,  headed  a  company 
from  that  town.  Andrew  H.  Mills,  of  Decatur,  spoke  for 
the  Macon  County  people. 

General. Harrison  said : 

My  Republican  Friends — I  feel  myself  unable  to  respond  suitably 
to  this  magnificent  demonstration  and  to  those  kindly  words  which 
you  have  addressed  to  me.  Public  duties  involve  grave  responsi- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  85 

bilities.  The  conscientious  man  will  not  contemplate  them  with- 
out seriousness.  But  the  man  who  sincerely  desires  to  know  and 
to  do  his  duty  may  rely  upon  the  favoring  help  of  God  and  the 
friendly  judgment  of  his  fellow-citizens.  [Great  applause.] 

Your  corning  from  another  State  and  from  distant  homes  testifies 
to  the  observing  interest  which  you  feel  in  those  questions  which 
are  to  be  settled  by  the  ballot  in  November.  [Cries  of  "We  will 
settle  them  !"] 

The  confessed  free-traders  are  very  few  in  this  country.  But 
English  statesmen  and  English  newspapers  confidently  declare  that 
in  fact  we  have  a  great  many.  [Applause.  ] 

We  are  told  that  it  is  only  an  average  reduction  of  seven  per  cent, 
that  is  contemplated.  [Laughter.  ]  WTell,  if  that  were  true,  and 
not  a  very  deceptive  statement,  as  it  really  is,  you  might  fairly  ask 
whether  this  average  reduction  does  not  sacrifice  some  American 
industry  or  the  wages  of  our  workingmen  and  work  ing- women. 
You  may  also  fairly  ask  to  see  the  free  list,  which  does  not  figure 
in  this  "average. "  [Applause,  and  cries  of  "That's  it !"]  We  would 
have  more  confidence  in  the  protest  of  these  reformers  that  they  are 
not  "  free-traders  "  if  we  could  occasionally  hear  one  of  them  say  that 
he  was  a  protectionist  [applause] ,  or  admit  that  our  customs  duties 
should  adequately  favor  our  domestic  industries.  But  they  seem  to 
be  content  with  a  negative  statement. 

Those  who  would,  if  they  could,  eliminate  the  protective  prin- 
ciple from  our  tariff  laws  have,  in  former  moments  of  candor, 
described  themselves  as  "progressive  free-traders,"  and  it  is  an  apt 
designation.  The  protective  system  is  a  barrier  against  the  flood 
of  foreign  importations  and  the  competition  of  underpaid  labor  in 
Europe.  [Applause.  ]  Those  who  want  to  lower  the  dike  owe  it 
to  those  who  live  behind  it  to  make  a  plain  statement  of  their  pur- 
poses. Do  they  want  to  invite  the  flood,  or  do  they  believe  in  the 
dike,  but  think  it  will  afford  adequate  protection  at  a  lower  level? 
[Great  and  enthusiastic  applause.] 

What  I  say  is  only  suggestive.  I  cannot  in  this  brief  talk  go 
into  details,  or  even  properly  limit  the  illustrations  I  have  used. 
But  this  is  an  appropriate  and  timely  inquiry :  With  what  mo- 
tive, what  ultimate  design,  what  disposition  toward  the  principle 
of  protection  is  it  that  our  present  tariff  schedule  is  attacked?  It 
may  be  that  reductions  should  be  made  ;  it  may  be  that  some  duties 
should  be  increased  ;  but  we  want  to  know  whether  those  who  pro- 
pose the  revision  believe  in  taking  thought  of  our  American  work- 
ingmen .in  fixing  the  rates,  or  will  leave  them  to  the  chance  effects 
of  a  purely  revenue  tariff.  [Applause.  ] 


SO  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Now,  having  spoken  once  already  to-rlay,  you  will  accept  this 
inadequate  acknowledgment  of  this  magnificent  demonstration. 

I  thank  you,  my  Illinois  friends,  not  only  on  my  own  behalf,  but 
on  behalf  of  the  Republicans  of  Indiana,  for  the  great  interest  you 
have  manifested.  [Applause.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  15. 

RUSH,  Decatur,  and  Delaware  counties,  Indiana,  con- 
tributed fully  five  thousand  visitors  on  the  15th  of  August. 
Rush  County  sent  twenty  Republican  clubs,  mainly  town- 
ship organizations,  led  by  one  hundred  veterans  of  1836 
and  '40.  The  prominent  Republicans  of  the  delegation 
were  Hon.  John  K.  Gowdy,  John  M.  Stevens,  A.  L.  Riggs, 
W.  J.  Henley,  John  F.  Moses,  T.  M.  Green,  J.  C.  Kiplin- 
ger,  J.  W.  Study,  and  G.  W.  Looney,  of  Rushville;  R.  R. 
Spencer  and  J.  A.  Shannon,  of  Richland.  Judge  W.  A. 
•Cullen  was  their  spokesman. 

General  Harrison,  responding,  said:- 

Judge  Cullen  and  my  Rush  County  Friends — I  am  glad  to  see  you 
here — glad  to  be  assured  by  him  who  has  spoken  in  your  behalf 
that  your  coming  here  in  some  measure  is  intended  as  an  evidence 
of  your  personal  respect  for  me.  The  respect  of  one's  fellow- 
citizens,  who  have  opportunities  to  know  him,  is  of  priceless  value. 

I  cannot  in  these  daily  addresses  enter  much  into  public  ques- 
tions. 

You  are  Indianians,  some  of  you  by  birth ;  some  of  you,  like 
me,  by  choice.  You  are  Republicans ;  you  have  opposed  always 
the  doctrine  of  State's  rights ;  you  have  believed  and  gloried  in 
the  great  citizenship  that  embraces  all  the  people  of  all  the  States. 
You  believe  that  this  Government  is  not  a  confederation  to  be  dis- 
solved at  the  will  of  any  member  of 'it,  but  a  Nation  having  the 
inherent  right,  by  arms,  if  need  be,  to  perpetuate  its  beneficent 
existence.  [Great  applause.  1  Many  of  you  who  are  here  to  day 
have  aided  in  vindicating  that  principle  upon  the  battle  field  [cries 
of  "Plenty  of  us!"],  and  yet  these  views  are  not  inconsistent  with 
a  just  State  pride.  We  are  proud  to  be  Indianians,  proud  of  the 
story  of  her  progress  in  material  development,  proud  of  her  educa- 
tional and  benevolent  institutions,  proud  of  her  Christian  homes, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES,  87 

proud  of  her  part  in  the  Civil  War.  If  there  has  been  any  just 
cause  of  reproach  against  our  State  we  will  all  desire  that  it  may 
be  removed.  We  may  fairly  appeal,  to  all  Indianians,  without  dis- 
tinction of  party,  to  co-operate  in  promoting  such  public  measures 
as  are  calculated  to  lift  up  the  dignity  and  honor  and  estimation 
of  Indiana  among  the  States  of  the  Union.  [Great  a.pplause.] 

I  will  call  your  attention  to  one  such  subject  that  seems  to  me 
to  be  worthy  of  your  thought.  It  is  the  reform  of  our  election 
laws.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  That's  it !"]  A  constitutional  amend- 
ment, to  which  a  great  majority  of  our  people  gave  their  sanction, 
has  removed  the  impediments  which  stood  in  the  way  of  progres- 
sive legislation  in  the  protection  of  an  honest  ballot  in  Indiana. 
Formerly  we  could  not  require  a  definite  period  of  residence  in  the 
voting  precinct.  Now  we  may  and  have.  The  same  amendment 
authorized  our  Legislature  to  enact  a  just  and  strict  registry  law, 
which  will  enable  the  inspectors  properly  to  verify  the  claims  of 
those  who  offer  a  ballot.  Every  safeguard  of  law  should  be  thrown 
around  the  ballot-box  until  fraud  in  voting  and  frauds  in  counting 
shall  receive  the  sure  penalties  of  law  as  well  as  the  reprobation  of 
all  good  men.  [Great  applause.  ]  The  Republican  party  has  always 
stood  for  election  reforms.  No  measure  tending  to  secure  the 
ballot-box  against  fraud  has  ever  been  opposed  by  its  representa- 
tives. I  am  not  here  to  make  imputations  ;  I  submit  this  general 
suggestion  :  Find  me  the  party  that  sets  the  gate  of  election  frauds 
open,  or  holds  it  open,  and  I  will  show  you  the  party  that  expects  to 
drive  cattle  that  way.  [Applause.  ]  Let  us  as  citizens,  irrespective 
of  party,  unite  to  exalt  the  name  of  Indiana  by  making  her  election 
laws  models  of  justice  and  severity,  and  her  elections  free  from  the 
taint  of  suspicion.  [Great  applause.]  And  now,  as  I  must  pres- 
ently speak  to  other  delegations,  I  am  sure  my  Rush  County  friends 
will  allow  me  to  close  these  remarks.  [Applause  and  cheers.  ] 

The  visitors  from  Decatur  and  Delaware  counties  were 
received  together.  The  Decatur  delegation  numbered 
fifteen  hundred,  led  by  B.  F.  Bennett,  John  F.  Goddard, 
V.  P.  Harris,  J.  J.  Hazelrigg,  Geo.  Anderson,  Edward 
Speer,  A.  G.  Fisher,  F.  M.  Sherwood,  and  A.  S.  Creath, 
of  Greensburg.  Their  spokesman  was  the  Hon.  Will 
Cumback.  Delaware  County  sent  twelve  organizations, 
conspicuous  among  which  were  the  Tippecanoe  Club,  the 
Veterans  Regiment,  and  Lincoln  Colored  Club.  Among 
the  leaders  of  the  delegation  were  ex-Senator  M.  C.  Smith, 


88  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

A.  F.  Collins,  Hon.  James  N.  Templer,  Major  J.  F.  Wild- 
man,  Rev.  T.  S.  Guthrie,  J.  D.  Hoyt,  Geo.  F.  McCulloch, 
W.  W.  Orr,  Joseph  G.  Lefler,  Lee  Coffeen,  C.  F.  W. 
Neely,  Ed.  R.  Templer,  W.  H.  Murray,  W.  H.  Stokes, 
John  S.  Aldredge,  J.  R.  Shoemaker,  Jacob  Stiffler,  Web 
S.  Richey,  T.  H.  Johnson  and  others,  of  Muncie.  Rev. 
K".  L.  Bray  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  Lincoln  Club,  but  R.  S. 
Gregory  delivered  the  address  for  the  delegation  as  a 
whole. 

In  reply  to  these  several  addresses  General  Harrison 
said: 

My  Friends — The  man  who  does  not  believe  that  the  issues  of  this 
campaign  have  taken  a  very  deep  hold  upon  the  minds  and  upon 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people  would  do  well  to  come  and 
stand  with  me  and  look  into  the  faces  of  the  masses  who  gather  here. 
I  know  nothing  of  the  human  face  if  I  do  not  read  again  in  your 
faces  and  eyes  the  lesson  I  have  read  here  from  day  to  day,  and 
it  is  this  :  That  the  thinking,  intelligent,  God-fearing  and  self- 
respecting  citizens  of  this  country  believe  there  are  issues  at  stake 
that  demand  their  earnest  effort.  [Applause.]  A  campaign  that 
is  one  simply  of  party  management,  a  campaign  by  committees  and 
public  speakers,  may  fail ;  but  a  campaign  to  which  the  men  and 
women  of  the  country  give  their  unselfish  and  earnest  efforts  can 
never  fail.  [Great  applause.] 

It  is  no  personal  interest  in  the  candidate  that  stirs  these  emotions 
in  your  hearts  ;  it  is  the  belief  that  questions  are  involved  affecting 
your  prosperity  and  the  prosperity  of  your  neighbors ;  affecting  the 
dignity  of  the  nation  ;  affecting  the  generation  to  which  you  will 
presently  leave  the  government  which  our  fathers  built  and  you 
have  saved.  [Applause.] 

One  subject  is  never  omitted  by  those  who  speak  for  these  visiting 
delegations,  viz.  :  the  protective  tariff.  The  purpose  not  to  permit 
American  wages  to  be  brought  below  the  level  of  comfortable  liv- 
ing, and  competence,  and  hope,  by  competition  with  the  pauper 
labor  of  Europe,  has  taken  a  very  strong  hold  upon  our  people. 
[Applause.]  And  of  kin  to  this  suggestion  and  purpose  is  this 
other :  that  we  will  not  permit  this  country  to  be  made  the  dump- 
ing-ground of  foreign  pauperism  and  crime.  [Great  applause.] 
There  are  some  who  profess  to  be  eager  to  exclude  paupers  and 
Chinese  laborers,  and  at  the  same  time  advocate  a  policy  that 
brings  the  American  workman  into  competition  with  the  product 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  89 

of  cheap  foreign  labor.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "That's  it!"]  The 
disastrous  effects  upon  our  \vorkingmen  and  work  ing- women  of 
competition  with  cheap,  underpaid  labor  are  not  obviated  by 
keeping  the  cheap  worker  over  the  sea  if  the  product  of  his  cheap 
labor  isj  allowed  free  competition  in  our  market.  We  should  pro- 
tect our  people  against  competition  with  the  products  of  underpaid 
labor  abroad  as  well  as  against  the  coming  to  our  shores  of  paupers, 
laborers  under  contract,  and  the  Chinese  labor.  [Enthusiastic  ap- 
plause. ]  These  two  thoughts  are  twin  thoughts  ;  the  same  logic 
supports  both ;  and  the  Republican  party  holds  them  as  the  dual 
conclusion  of  one  great  argument. 

Now,  gentlemen,  to  the  first  voters,  who  come  with  the  high 
impulse  of  recruits  into  this  strife  ;  to  these  old  men,  seasoned 
veterans  of  many  a  contest,  and  to  these  colored  friends,  whose 
fidelity  has  been  conspicuous,  I  give  my  thanks  and  hearty  greet- 
ings. [Applause.]  There  has  been  a  desire  expressed  that  the 
reception  of  these  delegations  should  be  individualized  ;  that  Dela- 
ware should  be  received  by  itself,  and  Decatur  separately  ;  but  that 
is  not  possible.  You  are  one  in  thought  and  purpose ;  and  if  I  am 
not  able  to  individualize  your  reception  by  counties,  I  will,  so  far 
as  I  can,  now  make  it  absolutely  individual  by  greeting  each  one  of 
you. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  17. 

DELEGATIONS  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinpis,  aggre- 
gating between  nine  and  ten  thousand  visitors,  paid  their 
respects  to  the  Republican  nominee  on  the  seventeenth  of 
August. 

The  Ohio  delegation  came  from  Bellefontaine,  Logan 
County,  led  by  Judge  William  Lawrence.  They  carried 
a  beautiful  old  silk  banner  that  had  been  presented  to  a 
Logan  County  club  at  the  hands  of  Gen.  Wm.  Henry 
Harrison  in  1840. 

Ford  County,  Illinois,  sent  a  large  delegation,  headed  by 
Judge  A.  Sample  and  Col.  C.  Bogardus,  of  Paxton.  The 
Young  Men's  Club — Wm.  Ramsey,  President,  and  the 
Paxton  League — T.  T.  Thompson,  President,  were  con- 
spicuous in  this  delegation. 


90  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  Kankakee  County  (Illinois)  delegation,  headed  by 
the  Republican  club  of  the  City  of  Kankakee  in  campaign 
uniforms,  was  led  by  Judge  T.  S.  Sawyer,  D.  H.  Paddock, 
F.  S.  Hatch,  W.  F.  Kenoga,  H.  L."  Richardson,  J.  F. 
Leonard,  R.  D.  Sherman,  Geo.  R.  Letourneau,  and  Judge 
J.  N.  Orr. 

Morgan  Count}-,  Illinois,  contributed  the  largest  delega- 
tion of  the  day,  over  two  thousand,  with  three  drum  corps, 
one,  the  Jacksonville  Juvenile  Drum  Corps,  led  by  Thomas 
Barbour,  aged  81.  Prominent  in  the  Morgan  delegation 
were  C.  G.  Rutledge,  President  Young  Men's  Republican 
Club,  B.  F.  Hilligass,  D.  M.  Simmons,  Dr.  P.  G.  Gillett, 
Sam'l  W.  Nichols,  Judge  M.  T.  Layman,  J.  G.  Loomis, 
A.  P.  and  J.  M.  Smith,  veterans  of  '-40,  and  Henry  Yates, 
son  of  Illinois'  war  Governor — all  of  Jacksonville. 

The  Indiana  visitors  came  from  three  counties — Bar- 
tholomew, Johnson,  and  Vermilion. 

The  Bartholomew  contingent  was  composed  largely  of 
veterans  of  the  late  war,  who  were  led  by  a  company  of 
their  daughters  in  uniform.  Among  their  representative 
members  were  John  C.  Orr,  W.  W.  Lambert,  John  H. 
Taylor,  John  F.  Ott,  J.  W.  Morgan,  John  Sharp,  T.  B. 
Prother,  Andrew  Perkinson,  and  H.  Rost,  of  Columbus. 

The  Johnson  County  delegation  numbered  two  thousand, 
led  by  W.  T.  Pritchard,  D.  W.  Barnett,  Jessie  Overstreet, 
J.  H.  Vannuys,  I.  M.  Thompson,  Jacob  Hazlett,  and  John 
Brown,  of  Franklin. 

Vermilion  County  sent  fifteen  hundred  enthusiastic  vis- 
itors, commanded  by  A.  J.  Ralph,  Marshal  of  the  delega- 
tion. Other  leaders  were  Hon.  R.  B.  Sears,  W.  L.  Porter, 
Rob't  A.  Parrett,  S.  B.  Davis,  R.  H.  Nixon,  Geo.  H. 
Fisher,  and  Andrew  Curtis,  of  Newport. 

The  speakers  on  behalf  of  these  several  delegations  were : 
Hon.  William  Lawrence,  of  Ohio;  Hon.  Frank  L.  Cook, 
Paxton,  111. ;  Judge  C.  R.  Starr,  Kankakee  County,  111. ; 
Prof.  Win.  D.  Saunders,  Jacksonville,  111. ;  Major  W.  T. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  91 

Strickland,  Bartholomew  County,  Ind. ;  Col.  Sam'l  P. 
Oyler,  Johnson  County,  Ind. ;  Hon.  H.  H.  Connelly,  Ver- 
milion County,  Ind.  To  these  addresses  General  Harrison 
responded  as  follows : 

My  Friends— The  magnitude  of  this  gathering,  I  fear,  quite  out- 
reaches  the  capacity  of  my  voice.  It  is  so  great  and  so  cordial,  it 
has  been  accompanied  by  so  many  kind  expressions,  that  my  heart 
is  deeply  touched — too  deeply  to  permit  of  extended  or  connected 
speech.  I  return  most  cordially  the  greetings  of  these  friends  from 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  [cheers] ,  a  trio  of  great  States  lying  in 
this  great  valley,  endowed  by  nature  with  a  productive  capacity 
that  rivals  the  famous  valley  of  the  Nile,  populated  by  a  people 
unsurpassed  in  intelligence,  manly  independence  and  courage. 
[Applause  and  cheers.]  The  association  of  these  States  to-day 
brings  to  my  mind  the  fact  that  in  the  brigade  with  which  I  served 
Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Illinois  were  represented  [applause] — three 
regiments  from  Illinois,  the  One  Hundred  and  Second,  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifth  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  ;  one  from 
Ohio,  the  Seventy-ninth,  and  one  from  Indiana,  the  Seventieth 
Infantry.  I  have  seen  the  men  of  these  States  stand  together  in 
the  evening  parade.  I  have  seen  them  also  charge  together  in 
battle,  and  die  together  for  the  flag  they  loved  [great  applause], 
and  when  the  battle  was  over  I  have  seen  the  dead  gathered  from 
the  field  they  had  enriched  with  their  blood  and  laid  side  by  side 
in  a  common  grave.  Again  you  evidence  by  your  coming  that  these 
great  States  have  in  peace  common  interests  and  common  sympa- 
thies. The  Republican  .party  has  always  been  hospitable  to  the 
truth.  [Applause  and  laughter.  ]  It  has  never  shunned  debate.  It 
has  boldly,  and  in  the  courage  of  the  principles  it  has  advocated, 
opened  the  lists  and  challenged  all  comers.  It  has  never  found  it 
necessary  or  consistent  with  its  great  principles  to  suppress  free 
discussion  of  any  question.  There  is  not  a  Republican  community 
where  any  man  may  not  advocate  without  fear  his  political  beliefs. 
[Cries  of  "That's  so!"]  There  is  not  a  Republican  voting  precinct 
where  any  man,  whatever  may  have  been  his  relations  to  the  flag 
during  the  war,  may  not  freely  exercise  his  right  to  vote.  [Cheers.  ] 
There  is  not  one  such  precinct  where  the  right  of  a  Confederate 
soldier  freely  to  cast  the  ballot  of  his  choice  would  not  be  defended 
by  the  Union  veterans  of  the  war.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "That's 
true  !"]  Our  party  is  tolerant  of  political  differences.  It  has  always 
yielded  to  others  all  that  it  demanded  for  itself.  It  has  been  in- 
tolerant of  but  one  thing :  disloyalty  to  the  flag  and  to  the  Union 


92  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  States.  [Great  applause.  ]  It  has  had  the  good  fortune  to  set 
in  the  Constitution  and  in  the  permanent  laws  of  our  country 
many  of  the  great  principles  for  which  it  has  contended.  It  has 
not  only  persuaded  a  majority  of  our  thinking  people,  but  it  has 
had  the  unusual  fortune  to  compel  those  who  opposed  it  to  give  a 
belated  assent  to  every  great  principle  it  has  supported. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  am  sure  you  will  excuse  further  speech. 
What  I  say  here  must  necessarily  be  veiy  general.  It  would  not 
be  in  good  taste  for  me  to  make  too  close  or  too  personal  an  appli- 
cation of  Republican  principles.  [Laughter  and  applause  and 
cries  of  "You're  a  dandy  !"] 

I  do  not  know  what  to  say  further.  I  have  up  to  this  time 
greeted  personally  all  those  who  came.  My  courage  is  a  little 
shaken  as  I  look  upon  this  vast  multitude,  but  for  a  time,  at 
least — so  long  as  I  can,  and  to  those  who  especially  desire  it,  I  will 
give  a  personal  greeting.  [Great  and  prolonged  applause.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  18. 

THE  commercial  travelling  men,  and  their  friends,  from 
the  cities  of  Peoria,  Bloomington,  Terre  Haute,  and  La- 
fayette, about  a  thousand  in  number,  paid  their  respects 
to  General  Harrison  on  the  afternoon  of  the  18th  of 
August.  The  Bloomington  delegation  was  led  by  J.  H. 
Sprague  and  Dan  Van  Elsler,  the  Peoria  Club  by  J.  G. 
Jones.  Each  delegation  was  escorted  by  a  splendid  band. 

They  were  met  and  escorted  to  the  Harrison  residence 
by  a  committee  from  the  Indianapolis  Commercial  Trav- 
ellers' Association,  comprising  G.  C.  Webster,  C.  H.  Mc- 
therson,  John  Y.  Parker,  W.  H.  Schmidt,  D.  W.  Coffin, 
Harry  Gates,  E.  K.  Syfers,  W.  F.  Winchester,  Wm. 
Sisson,  T.  P.  Swain,  C.  L.  Schmidt,  Ed.  Finney,  O.  W. 
Moorman,  Charles  Lefler,  M.  P.  Green,  J.  L.  Earnhardt, 
Berg.  Applegate,  G.  R.  Rhoads,  Hon.  J.  H.  Rowell,  of 
Bloomington;  and  Hon.  J.  S.  Starr  of  Peoria  spoke  on 
behalf  of  the  visitors.  General  Harrison  said : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Commercial  Travellers'  Association  of  Peoria, 
Bloomington,  Lafayette,  and  Tcrre  Haute— I  thank  you  for  this  most 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  93 

cordial  and  beautiful  demonstration.  The  respect  of  such  a  body 
of  men  is  a  valuable  acquisition.  But  I  am  particularly  glad  that 
a  class  so  large  and  so  influential,  and  one  that  touches  so  many 
communities,  is  loyally  and  earnestly  devoted  to  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party.  I  have  travelled  somewhat  in  the  wake  of 
the  commercial  men,  and  have  observed  that  they  have  the  habit  of 
getting  the  best  of  everything  wherever  they  go.  [Applause  and 
laughter.  A  voice  :  "  That's  the  reason  we  are  here  !"]  I  am  there- 
fore quite  ready  to  credit  the  statement  of  the  gentleman  who  has 
just  spoken  in  your  behalf  when  he  tells  me  that  the  commercial 
travellers  are  all  Republicans.  [Applause  and  cries  of  uHe  was 
right !"]  I  should  expect  they  would  get  the  best  politics  that  were 
to  be  found.  [Laughter  and  applause.  ] 

Your  calling  is  an  active  one — you  are  always  on  the  move. 
You  are  quick  to  discover  the  wants  of  local  trade.  You  are  per- 
suasive in  speech  and  address ;  you  are  honest  for  the  love  of 
integrity,  and  do  not  forget  that  you  must  again  face  your  cus- 
tomer after  the  goods  are  delivered.  [Laughter  and  applause.  ] 
The  men  who  employed  you  have  chosen  you,  picked  you  out, 
and  they  subject  you  to  the  weekly  test  of  success.  You  have  been 
proved  and  not  found  wanting.  The  wide  intercourse  you  have 
with  your  fellow-men  and  the  wide  view  you  get  of  our  country 
must  tend  to  make  you  liberal  and  patriotic. 

The  provincialism  that  once  existed  in  this  country  has  largely 
disappeared,  and  the  commercial  travellers  have  been  an  important 
agency  in  bringing  this  about.  This  going  to  and  fro  has  given 
you  a  fuller  comprehension,  not  only  of  the  extent  of  this  country, 
but  of  the  greatness  and  unity  of  its  people.  [Cheers.]  I  have 
thought  that  the  prophet  Daniel  must  have  had  a  vision  of  the 
commercial  travellers  when  he  said  that  in  the  last  days  many 
should  run  to  and  fro  and  knowledge  should  be  increased.  [Laugh- 
ter and  applause.] 

You  will  not  expect  me  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  any  of 
the  topics  which  have  been  suggested  by  those  who  have  spoken 
for  you.  Most  of  them  I  have  already  alluded  to  in  public  speech 
since  my  nomination,  and  upon  some  of  them  I  have  spoken  more 
fully  before.  Let  me  suggest  but  this  one  thought :  Do  not  allow 
any  one  to  persuade  you  that  this  great  contest  as  to  our  tariff 
policy  is  one  between  schedules.  It  is  not  a  question  of  a  seven  per 
cent,  reduction.  [Applause.]  It  is  a  question  between  wide-apart 
principles.  [Cries  of  "That's  right!"] 

The  principle  of  protection,  the  intelligent  recognition  in  the 
framing  of  our  tariff  laws  of  the  duty  to  protect  our  American 


94  HABRISON'3  SPEECHES. 

industries  and  maintain  the  American  scale  of  wages  by  adequate 
discriminating  duties  [cries  of  "That's  right !"  "That's  it!"]  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  a  denial  of  the  constitutional  right 
to  make  our  customs  duties  protective,  or  the  assertion  of  the  doc- 
trine that  free  competition  with  foreign  products  is  the  ideal  con- 
dition to  which  all  our  legislation  should  tend.  [Applause.  ]  . 

Let  me  now,  in  behalf  not  only  of  myself,  but  of  my  family,  thank 
you   for  your    visit  and  ask  you  to  enter  our  home.      [Applause.] 


TOLEDO,  OHIO,  AUGUST  21. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  left  Indianapolis  on  the  morning  of 
August  21,  '88,  for  a  two  weeks'  outing  and  vacation  at 
Middle  Bass  Island,  Lake  Erie,  where  he  was  the  guest — 
upon  invitation  of  ex-Gov.  Charles  Foster,  of  Ohio — of 
the  Middle  Bass  Fishing  Club,  Mather  Shoemaker,  Sr., 
President. 

He  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Harrison,  Judge  Wm. 
A.  Woods  and  wife,  Miss  Woods,  Samuel  Miller,  and 
representatives  of  the  Associated  Press  and  Cincinnati 
Commercial-  Gazette. 

His  departure  was  not  generally  known,  consequently 
there  was  no  demonstration  along  the  line  until  Defiance, 
Ohio,  was  reached,  where  several  hundred  people  had 
gathered.  Hon.  C.  A.  Flickinger  delivered  a  brief  address 
of  welcome. 

General  Harrison,  speaking  from  the  train,  said : 

Gentlemen — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  this  reception. 
You  will  excuse  me,  I  am  sure,  for  not  attempting  to  make  any 
speech.  This  evidence  of  your  friendly  feeling  is  gratifying  to 
me.  We  were  intending  to  travel  to-day  in  quietness,  and  I  am 
confident  you  will  conform  to  our  wishes  in  that  respect  by  allow- 
ing me  to  say  simply,  "How  do  you  do"  and  "Good- by." 

Toledo  was  reached  early  in  the  evening,  and  several 
thousand  citizens  and  militia  welcomed  the  distinguished 
travellers.  A  committee  of  reception,  comprising  James 
M.  Brown,  Chairman,  Mayor  Hamilton,  Hon.  E.  D. 
Potter,  J.  C.  Bonner,  John  Berdan,  C.  A.  King,  Calvin 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  95 

Barker,  Fred  Eaton,  Col.S.C.  Reynolds,  Judge  R.F.  Doyle, 
Judge  Joseph  Cummings,  Hon.  John  F.  Kumler,  Hon. 
Richard  Waite,  Wm.  Baker,  and  Judge  Austin,  escorted 
General  Harrison  and  his  party  to  the  residence  of  Wm. 
Cummings,  whose  guests  they  were.  At  night  an  open- 
air  mass-meeting  was  held  in  Memorial  Hall  Square,  where 
ten  thousand  men  assembled.  Gov.  Foster  spoke  at 
length,  and  was  followed  by  General  Harrison,  who  was 
introduced  by  Hon.  J.  M.  Brown,  President  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  United  Republican  Clubs,  and  spoke  as 
follows : 

My  Friends — You  have  already  been  told  that  this  reception  was 
not  planned  by  me,  and  yet  I  do  not  regret  that  I  have  yielded  to 
the  urgent  solicitation  of  your  representatives  and  have  consented 
to  stand  for  a  few  moments  in  the  presence  of  this  magnificent 
arid  instructive  audience.  [Applause.]  I  say  instructive,  for  that 
public  man  is  dull  indeed  who  does  not  gather  both  instruction  and 
inspiration  from  such  meetings  as  this.  [Applause.]  I  thank  you 
for  any  measure  of  personal  respect  and  interest  which  your  com- 
ing here  to-night  may  witness,  but  I  do  not  see  in  this  immense 
gathering  any  testimony  that  is  personal  to  me.  I  prefer  to  regard 
it  as  another  witness  added  to  the  long  number  I  have  seen  before 
of  the  deep-seated  and  earnest  interest  of  our  people  in  the  pub- 
lic questions  that  are  to  be  settled  in  November.  [Applause.]  I 
choose  rather  to  regard  it  as  a  pledge  that  this  interest  you  mani- 
fest in  me  to-night  will  not  stop  here,  but  is  the  pledge  of  continued 
and  earnest  personal  work  by  each  one  of  you  for  those  principles 
which  have  won  the  consent  of  your  minds  and  the  love  of  your 
hearts.  [Applause.]  I  cannot  enter  in  any  detail  into  the  discus- 
sion of  public  questions  ;  I  would  not  at  all  put  myself  between 
you  and  these  great,  important  issues.  I  would,  in  all  I  may  sajr, 
put  them  to  the  front.  We  are  here  citizens  of  a  great,  prosperous, 
magnificent  Nation.  We  have  common  interests.  We  are  here 
charged  with  the  common  duties  to  perpetuate,  if  we  can,  the 
prosperity  and  to  maintain  the  honor  of  this  great  Republic. 
[Applause.]  We  are  here  to-night  in  the  enjoyment  of  free  govern- 
ment. We  are  here  in  the  individual  possession  of  better  oppor- 
tunities of  development,  of  a  larger  prosperity,  and  of  more  individ- 
ual comfort  than  are  possessed  by  any  other  people  in  the  world. 
[Applause.]  The  great  economic  question  as  to  what  shall  be  our 
future  legislative  policy  is  stated  with  a  distinctness  in  this  cam- 


06  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

paign  that  it  has  never  had  before,  and  I  believe  the  verdict  and 
decision  will  have  an  emphasis  and  finality  that  it  has  never  had 
before  [Applause.]  If  there  is  any  one  here  present  to-night  that 
knows  of  any  land  that  spreads  a  more  promising  sky  of  hope 
above  the  heads  of  the  poor  and  the  laboring  man  than  this,  I 
would  be  glad  if  he  would  name  it.  The  one  fact  that  I  do  not 
need  to  stop  to  demonstrate  by  statistics,  the  one  fact  that  I  could 
call  out  of  this  vast  audience  hundreds  of  witnesses  to  support  by 
their  personal  testimony,  is  that  the  scale  of  American  wages  is 
higher  than  that  of  any  other  country  in  the  world.  [Applause.] 
If  this  were  not  true,  why  is  it  that  the  workingmen  and  the 
working  women  of  the  older  lands  turn  their  faces  hitherward?  If 
there  is  a  better  country,  one  that  offers  better  wages,  fuller  hopes 
than  this,  why  is  it  that  those  who  are  in  quest  of  such  better 
things  have  not  found  it  out  and  turned  their  faces  thitherward? 
Now.  if  that  is  true,  then  why  is  it  true,  and  how  is  it  to  be  con- 
tinued—  this  condition  of  our  country?  It  is  because,  and  only 
because,  we  have  for  years,  by  our  protective  tariff,  discriminated 
in  favor  of  American  manufacturers  and  American  workingmen. 
[Applause.]  Strike  down  this  protective  system,  bring  our  work- 
ingmen and  working-women  in  equal  competition  in  the  products 
of  their  toil  with  those  who  labor  abroad,  and  nothing  is  clearer 
than  that  these  mills  and  factories  must  reduce  wages  here  to 
the  level  with  wages  abroad,  or  they  must  shut  down.  You  have 
the  choice  to  make ;  you,  the  free  citizens  of  this  country,  whose 
ballots  sway  its  destiny,  will  settle  these  questions  in  November. 
[Applause.]  I  ask  you  how?  Don't  be  deceived  by  the  suggestion 
that  this  is  any  contest  over  a  seven  per  cent,  reduction  in  the  tariff 
schedule.  We  are  allowed  now  to  say.  I  think,  that  all  those  who 
are  entitled  to  speak  for  the  Democratic  party  have  declared  that 
it  is  opposed  to  protection.  That  being  so,  the  issue  is  clearly, 
distinctly,  strongly  drawn.  I  beg  you  all — not  in  my  interest,  but 
in  your  own  :  in  the  interest  of  your  families  and  the  country  you 
love — to  ponder  this  question  ;  to  think  upon  it  with  that  seriousness 
its  importance  demands,  and  when  you  have  thought  it  out,  settle 
it ,  settle  it  in  November,  so  that  we  shall  be  free  for  years  to  come 
from  this  agitation  in  behalf  of  free  trade.  [Great  applause.] 

I  thank  you  again  for  this  kindly  demonstration.  I  beg  you  to 
accept  these  brief  suggestions  as  the  only  but  inadequate  return 
that  I  can  make  you  for  this  kindness.  [Applause.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  97 


PUT-IN-BAY,  OHIO,  AUGUST  31. 

THE  residents  of  Put-in-Bay  Island,  about  five  hundred 
in  number,  tendered  General  Harrison  a  reception  on  the 
thirty-first  of  August.  The  steamboats  from  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  Toledo,  and  Sandusky  brought  several  thousand 
excursionists.  General  Harrison  and  his  party  011  their 
arrival  from  Middle  Bass  Island  were  met  at  the  pier  by 
all  the  residents  of  Put-in-Bay  Island,  headed  by  their 
most  distinguished  citizen  John  Brown,  Jr.,  son  of  the 
celebrated  "  Ossawatomie"  Brown,  of  Harper's  Ferry 
fame. 

From  a  pavilion  in  the  adjacent  grove  John  Brown 
introduced  Hon.  Charles  Foster,  who  said : 

Fellow-citizens — General  Harrison  came  to  Middle  Bass  for  the 
purpose  of  rest  and  quiet.  At  the  solicitation  of  a  number  of  peo- 
ple of  this  section  of  country — a  great  number,  I  might  say — he 
has  kindly  consented  to  give  a  reception  here  to-day,  upon  one 
condition — that  he  was  not  to  make  a  speech.  Now,  fellow-citizens, 
I  have  thft  very  great  pleasure  of  presenting  to  you  General  Ben- 
jamin Harrison,  the  Republican  candidate  for  the  presidency. 
[Applause.  ] 

As  Governor  Foster  concluded,  General  Harrison  arose 
midst  a  shout  of  welcome  and  spoke  as  follows : 

Ny  Friends — I  have  found  Governor  Foster  to  be  a  very  agreeable 
and  thoughtful  host,  and  I  find  him  to-day  to  be  the  most  agreeable 
master  of  ceremonies  who  has  ever  attended  me  at  a  public  recep- 
tion. I  like  his  announcement  of  the  condition  under  which  I 
appear  before  you  to-day. 

I  never  enjoy  a  banquet  when  my  name  is  on  the  programme  for 
a  toast.  I  do  not,  therefore,  intend  to  speak  to  you  about  any  of 
those  questions  that  are  engaging  your  minds  as  citizens  of  this 
prosperous  and  mighty  and  happy  Nation.  We  are  here  to-day  as 
Americans,  proud  of  the  flag  that  symbolizes  this  great  Union  of 
States ;  proud  of  the  story  that  has  been  written  by  our  fathers  in 
council  and  in  war,  in  the  formation  and  defence  and  perpetuation 
of  our  magnificent  institutions  We  are  here  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  one  of  those  great  historic  events  that  was  among 


08  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  most  potential  agencies  in  settling  our  title  to  the  great  North- 
west. If  we  had  stood  where  we  stand  to-day  we  could  have  heard 
the  guns  of  Perry's  fleet.  If  we  had  stood  where  we  stand  to-day 
we  could  have  welcomed  him  as  he  came  a  victor  into  Put -in-Bay. 

These  institutions  of  ours  are  in  our  own  keeping  now,  and  not 
only  our  fundamental  institutions,  but  the  fame  that  has  been  won 
by  those  who  have  gone  before.  I  may  therefore  properly  say  to- 
day that  a  campaign  like  this  demands  the  thoughtful  considera- 
tion of  every  American  voter.  We  are  prosperous.  [Cheers.]  The 
story  of  our  prosperity,  of  our  development  in  wealth,  of  our  achieve- 
ments in  finance  as  a  Nation,  since  and  during  the  war,  is  almost 
as  notable  and  almost  as  admirable  as  that  of  our  achievements  in 
arms. 

The  assembling  of  our  revenue  was  even  more  difficult  than  the 
assembling  of  armies,  and  yet  we  were  able  to  maintain  those 
armies  in  the  field,  and  have  been  able  since  not  only  to  bear  up 
the  great  load  of  debt,  but  to  pay  it  off,  until  that  which  was  once 
thought  to  be  a  burden  that  would  crush  our  industries  has  come 
to  be  in  our  hands  but  as  the  ball  the  boy  tosses  in  play  [cheers]  ; 
and  we  are  to-day  confronted  with  the  question,  not  how  we  shall 
get  money,  but  how  we  shall  wisely  stop  some  of  those  avenues  by 
which  wealth  is  pouring  into  our  public  treasury. 

It  is  an  easier  problem  than  that  which  confronted  the  great  war 
Secretary,  in  whose  name  you  so  delight — how  to  raise  revenue 
to  prosecute  the  war  successfully.  It  will  be  wisely  solved.  And 
may  I  note  also  the  fact  that,  notwithstanding  this  complaint  of 
excessive  revenue,  there  are  some  who  suggest  that  they  are  not 
able  adequately  to  arouse  the  popular  indignation  against  excessive 
taxation  because  they  cannot  disclose  to  the  people  when  or  how 
they  are  paying  the  taxes?  [Applause.]  It  is  taken,  they  say,  so 
indirectly  and  so  subtly  that  these — our  plain  people — don't  know 
that  they  are  paying  them  at  all.  [Applause.]  But  I  must  not 
cross  this  line  of  party  discussion.  I  have  had  a  pleasant  stay  in 
this  most  delightful  neighborhood,  and  I  cannot  let  this  public 
opportunity  pass  without  expressing,  for  myself  and  for  Mrs.  Harri- 
son, our  grateful  appreciation  of  the  kind  and  thoughtful  hospitality 
which  has  been  shown  to  us  by  the  people  of  these  islands.  [Pro- 
longed  applause.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


FORT  WAYNE,  IND  ,  SEPTEMBER  4,  1888. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  and  party,  en  route  home  from 
Middle  Bass  Island,  arrived  at  Toledo  on  the  evening  of 
Sept.  3,  and  were  again  the  guests  of  Wm.  Cummings. 
At  night  they  were  tendered  a  reception  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  Berdan,  at  their  residence. 

On  the  morning  of  Sept.  4  the  party  started  homeward. 
The  first  stop  was  at  Fort  Wayne,  where  several  thousand 
Hoosiers  welcomed  their  leader.  Supt.  Wall,  of  the  Pitts- 
burg  and  Fort  Wayne  Railroad,  introduced  the  general, 
who  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Friends — I  desire  to  thank  you  for  this  cordial  demonstration. 
I  thank  you  not  so  much  for  myself  as  for  the  party  to  which  most 
of  us  have  given  the  consent  of  our  minds.  I  am  glad  to  know 
that  the  people  are  moved  to  a  thoughtful  consideration  of  those 
questions  which  are  this  year  presented  for  their  determination. 
Under  a  popular  government  like  ours  it  is  of  the  first  importance 
that  every  man  who  votes  should  have  some  reason  for  his  vote ; 
that  every  man  who  attaches  himself  to  this  or  that  political  party 
should  intelligently  understand  both  the  creed  and  the  purposes  of 
the  party  to  which  he  belongs.  I  think  it  is  universally  conceded 
by  Democrats  as  well  as  by  Republicans  that  the  questions  involved 
in  this  campaign  do  have  a  very  direct  bearing  upon  the  national 
prosperity,  and  upon  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  individual 
citizen.  I  think  it  is  conceded  that  the  result  of  this  election  will 
affect  beneficently  or  injuriously  our  great  manufacturing  interests, 
and  will  affect  for  weal  or  for  woe  the  workingmen  and  working 
women  who  fill  these  busy  hives  of  industry.  [Applause.]  This 
much  is  conceded.  I  do  not  intend  to-day  to  argue  the  question  in 
any  detail.  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  a  few  general  facts 
and  principles,  and  the  first  one— the  one  I  never  tire  of  mention- 
ing ;  the  one  I  deem  so  important  that  I  do  not  shun  the  charge 
that  I  am  repeating  myself — is  this  :  that  the  condition  of  the  wage- 
workers  of  America  is  better  than  that  of  the  wage  workers  of  any 
other  country  in  the  world.  [Applause.  ]  Now,  if  that  be  true,  it 
is  important  that  you  should  each  find  out  why  it  is  so ;  that  each 
one  of  you  should  determine  for  himself  .what  effect  a  protective 
tariff  has  had  and  is  likely  to  have  upon  his  wages  and  his  pros- 


100  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

perity.  Does  it  need  to  be  demonstrated  that  if  we  reduce  our  tariff 
to  a  revenue  level,  if  we  abolish  from  it  every  consideration  of  pro- 
tection, more  goods  will  come  in  from  abroad  than  come  in  now? 
And  what  is  the  necessary  effect?  It  is  the  transfer  to  foreign  shops 
of  work  that  you  need  here ;  it  is  to  diminish  American  production 
and  increase  English  production. 

That  is  to  be  the  effect  of  it.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  stand 
upon  nice  definitions  as  to  free  trade.  Some  think  it  enough  to 
say  that  they  are  not  free-traders  because  they  are  not  in  favor  of 
abolishing  all  customs  duties.  Let  me  remind  such  that  the  free- 
trade  countries  of  Europe,  recognized  to  be  such,  have  not  abolished 
all  customs  duties.  A  better  distinction  is  this  :  The  free-trader 
believes  in  levying  customs  duties  without  any  regard  to  the  effect 
of  those  duties  upon  the  wages  of  our  working  people,  or  vipon  the 
production  of  our  own  shops.  This,  then,  is  the  issue.  Take  it 
to  your  homes.  There  are  many  confusing  and  contradictory  state- 
ments made  in  the  public  press  and  by  public  speakers.  Ask  any 
of  those  who  assail  our  protective  system  whether  they  do  not 
believe  that  if  their  policy  is  adopted  a  larger  amount  of  foreign- 
made  goods  will  come  into  this  country.  It  is  their  purpose  to 
increase  importation  in  order  to  cheapen  prices.  I  think  I  may 
safely  ask  you  to  consider  the  question  whether  this  cheapening 
of  prices,  which  they  seem  to  regard  as  the  highest  attainment  of 
statesmanship,  is  consistent  with  the  rate  of  wages  that  our  work- 
ing people  enjoy  now  ,  whether  it  wrill  not  involve — if  we  are  to 
have  foreign  competition  without  favoring  duties — a  reduction  of 
American  wages  to  the  standard  of  the  wages  paid  abroad. 
[Applause.]  Do  you  believe  for  one  moment  that  two  factories 
making  the  same  product  can  be  maintained  in  competition  when 
one  pays  thirty- three  per  cent,  more  to  its  workingmen  than  the 
other?  Is  it  not  certain  that  wages  must  be  equalized  in  those 
competing  establishments  or  the  one  paying  the  higher  wages  must 
shut  down?  [Applause  and  cries,  "That's  the  thing  !"]  Herein 
this  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  so  important  and  so  prosperous,  we  have  a 
fine  illustration  of  the  accruing  advantages  of  a  large  factory  and 
shop  population.  It  has  made  your  city  prosperous  as  well  as  pop- 
ulous, and  it  has  made  these  outlying  Allen  County  farms  vastly 
more  valuable  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been.  These  interests 
harmonize.  But  I  only  want  to  ask  you  to  think  upon  these  ques- 
tions ;  settle  them  in  your  own  minds,  for  it  is  agreed  by  all  that, 
as  they  shall  be  settled  one  way  or  the  other,  your  interests  and 
those  of  your  families  and  of  this  community,  and  of  every  other 
like  community  in  this  country,  are  to  be  affected,  favorably  or 


HARRISOX'S  SPEECHES.  101 

unfavorably.  May  I  not  appeal  to  you  to  review  these  questions, 
to  throw  off  the  shackles  of  preconceived  notions  and  of  party  preju- 
dices, and  consider  them  anew  in  the  light  of  all  the  information 
that  is  accessible  to  you?  If  you  shall  do  that  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  \vorking  people  of  this  country  will  this  November  forever 
settle  the  question  that  American  customs  duties  shall  by  intention, 
by  forethought,  have  regard  to  the  wages  of  our  working  people. 
[Applause.  ] 

And  now,  if  you  will  pardon  further  speech,  I  shall  be  glad  to 
avail  myself  of  the  arrangements  which  the  committee  have  pro- 
vided to  greet  personally  any  of  you  who  may  desire  to  greet  me. 
[Prolonged  applause  and  cheers.] 


HUNTINGTON.  INI).,  SEPTEMBER  4. 

THE  next  stop  was  at  Huntington,  where  two  thousand 
people  were  congregated. 

In  response  to  repeated  calls  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — Our  stop  here  is  altogether  too  brief  for  me  to 
attempt  to  speak  ;  yet  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  to  you,  my 
friends  of  Huntington  County,  my  sincere  and  grateful  appreciation 
for  the  evidence  of  your  kindness  in  welcoming  me  so  cordially  to 
my  home  after  a  brief  absence.  I  have  not  travelled  very  far  this 
time,  but  I  have  seen  nothing  either  on  this  visit,  or  any  more 
extended  visit  that  I  have  heretofore  made,  to  win  away  my  inter- 
ests and  affection  from  the  great  State  of  Indiana.  [Great  applause.  ] 
It  is  great  in  the  capabilities,  both  of  its  soil  and  its  citizenship 
[applause]  ;  great  in  its  achievements  during  the  war.  When  our 
country  was  imperilled  no  State  more  nobly  or  magnificently  re- 
sponded to  the  demands  which  were  made  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment for  men  to  fight  and  to  die  for  the  flag.  [Applause.]  I  am 
glad  to  greet  in  this  audience  to  day  my  comrades  of  the  war,  and 
all  who  have  gathered  here.  I  beg  to  thank  you  again  for  your 
kindness. 


1 02  HARRISON ' S  SI  WKL'HES. 


PERU,  IND.,  SEPTEMBER  4. 

AT  Peru  a  committee,  headed  by  Hon.  A.  C.  Bearss  and 
Giles  W.  Smith,  waited  upon  General  Harrison,  who 
addressed  an  audience  of  over  two  thousand  as  follows : 

My  Friends— I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  that  kindness 
of  feeling  which  your  gathering  here  to-day  evinces.  I  have  had 
a  brief  visit  for  rest,  and  I  am  come  back  to  my  home  with  very 
kind  feelings  toward  my  friends  in  Indiana,  who  have,  not  only 
during  this  important  campaign,  but  always,  when  I  have  appealed 
to  them,  treated  me  with  the  utmost  consideration.  I  have  not 
time  to-day  to  discuss  the  issues  of  this  campaign.  They  are  ex- 
tremely important,  and  they  will  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the 
prosperity  of  our  country.  I  can  only  ask  you  to  think  of  them, 
and  not  to  mistake  the  issue.  It  is  very  plain.  It  is  the  question  of 
whether  our  tariff  laws  shall  be  a  protection  to  American  working- 
men  and  a  protection  to  American  manufacturing  establishments. 
Those  who  advocate  tariff  for  revenue  only  do  not  take  any  thought 
of  our  wage -workers,  but  let  their  interests  take  care  of  themselves. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Republican  party  believes  that  high  regard 
should  be  paid  to  the  question  what  the  effect  will  be  upon  wages 
and  upon  the  protection  of  our  American  shops.  Those  who  believe 
the  doctrine  agree  with  us ;  and  those  who  assail  it,  and  say  it  is 
unconstitutional,  as  has  recently  been  said  by  a  distinguished  citi- 
zen, would  destroy  our  protective  system  if  they  could.  We  must 
believe  so,  because  we  must  impute  to  them  sincerity  in  what  they 
say.  I  believe  this  campaign  will  settle  for  many  years  to  come 
the  question  of  whether  legislation  shall  be  intelligently  directed 
in  favor  of  the  doctrine  that  we  will,  so  far  as  maybe,  see  that  our 
farmers  may  find  home  consumers  for  their  home  product,  and  that 
these  populous  manufacturing  centres  may  give  a  larger  value  to 
the  farms  that  lie  about  them.  You  have  these  questions  to  settle. 
They  affect  your  interests  as  citizens  I  am  sure  that  everything 
that  regards  them,  as  well  as  everything  that  regards  the  candidate, 
may  be  safely  left  in  the  kind  hands  of  these  intelligent  citizens  of 
Indiana  and  of  the  United  States.  [Great  cheering.] 


JIAIUUSON'S  SPEECHES. 


KOKOMO,  IND.,  SEPTEMBER  4. 

THE  city  of  Kokomo  welcomed  the  party  in  the  evening 
with  a  brilliant  illumination  by  natural  gas.  Three  thou- 
sand people  were  present.  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — I  very  much  appreciate  this  spontaneous  evidence 
of  your  friendliness.  That  so  many  of  you  should  have  gathered 
here  this  evening  to  greet  us  on  our  return  home  after  a  brief 
absence  from  the  State  is  very  gratifying  to  me.  Kokomo  has 
been  for  many  years  a  very  prosperous  place.  It  has  been  the  happy 
home  of  a  very  intelligent  and  very  thrifty  people  You  are  now, 
however,  realizing  a  development  more  rapid  and  much  greater 
than  the  most  sanguine  among  you  could  have  anticipated  three 
years  ago.  The  large  increase  in  the  number  and  business  of  your 
manufacturing  establishments,  the  coming  here  from  other  parts  of 
the  country  of  enterprising  men  with  their  capital  to  set  up  man- 
ufacturing plants,  has  excited  your  interest  and  has  promoted 
your  development.  There  is  not  a  resident  of  Kokomo,  there  is  not 
a  resident  of  Howard  County,  who  does  not  rejoice  in  this  great 
prosperity.  I  am  sure  there  is  not  a  man  or  woman  in  this  city 
who  does  not  realize  that  this  new  condition  of  things  gives  to 
your  boys,  who  are  growing  up,  new  avenues  of  useful  thrift.  It 
opens  to  those  who  might  otherwise  have  pursued  common  labor 
access  to  skilled  trades  and  higher  compensation.  There  is  not  a 
merchant  in  Kokomo  who  does  not  appreciate  the  added  trade 
which  comes  to  his  store.  There  is  not  a  farmer  in  Howard  County 
who  has  not  realized  the  benefits  of  a  home  market  for  his  crops 
[applause  and  cries  of  "Good!"],  and  especially  for  those  perishable 
products  of  the  farm  which  do  not  bear  distant  transportation. 
Now  I  submit  to  your  consideration,  in  the  light  of  these  new 
facts,  whether,  you  have  not  a  very  deep  interest  in  the  protection 
of  our  domestic  industries  and  the  maintenance  of  the  American 
standard  of  wages.  There  can  be  no  mistaking  the  issue  this  year. 
In  previous  campaigns  it  has  been  observed  by  evasive  platform 
declarations.  It  is  now  so  clear  that  all  men  can  understand  it. 
I  would  leave  this  thought  with  you  :  Will  the  prosperity  that  is 
now  realized  by  you,  and  that  greater  prosperity  which  you  antici- 
pate, be  better  advanced  by  the  continuance  of  the  protective 
policy  or  by  its  destruction? 


104  HAKRISOX'S  SPEECHES. 


TIPTON,  IND.,   SEPTEMBER  4. 

AT  Tipton  Junction,  where  several  hundred  people  had 
congregated,  General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — There  is  no  time  this  evening  for  me  to  say  more 
than  that  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  this  cordial  evidence  of 
your  kindly  feeling.  I  will  not  have  time  to  discuss  any  public 
questions.  You  will  consider  them  for  yourselves,  and  can  have 
ready  access  to  all  necessary  information. 


NOBLESVILLE,  IND.,  SEPTEMBER  4. 

AT  Noblesville  the  train  was  met  by  a  special  from 
Indianapolis,  bearing  the  Columbia  Club,  a  uniformed 
organization  of  three  hundred  prominent  young  men,  who 
had  come  to  escort  General  Harrison  to  his  home. 

To  the  assembled  citizens  of  Noblesville  the  general 
said: 

My  Friends — You  are  very  kind,  and  I  am  grateful  for  this  mani- 
festation of  your  kindness.  I  cannot  speak  to  you  at  any  length  to- 
night. You  are  in  the  "gas  belt"  of  Indiana.  The  result  of  the 
discovery  of  this  new  fuel  has  been  the  rapid  development  of  your 
towns.  You  have  shown  your  enterprise  by  hospitably  opening 
the  way  for  the  coming  of  new  industrial  enterprises.  You  have 
felt  it  worth  while  not  only  to  invite  them,  but  to  offer  pecuniary 
inducements  for  them  to  come.  If  it  has  been  worth  while  to  do 
so  much  in  the  hope  of  developing  your  town  and  to  add  value  to 
your  farms  by  making  a  home  market  for  your  farm  product,  is  it 
not  also  worth  your  while  so  to  vote  this  fall  as  to  save  and  enlarge 
these  new  industrial  enterprises?  [Applause.]  Let  rne  acknowl- 
edge a  new  debt  of  gratitude  to  my  friends  of  Hamilton  County, 
who  have  often  before  made  me  their  debtor,  and  bid  you  good- 
night. 


HAJtRlSOX'S  SPEECHES.  105 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  4. 

THE  home-coming  of  General  Harrison  was  a  veritable 
ovation.  Fifteen  thousand  people  greeted  and  accompanied 
him  to  his  residence,  led  by  the  Columbia  Club,  the 
Veterans'  Regiment,  and  the  Railroad  Men's  Club.  Es- 
corted by  Gen.  Foster,  Daniel  M.  Ransdell,  and  W.  N. 
Harding,  General  Harrison — standing  in  his  own  door- 
facing  the  great  assembly,  said : 

My  Friends — Two  weeks  ago  to-day  I  left  Indianapolis  quietly 
for  a  brief  season  of  rest.  We  met  in  Ohio  very  considerate  and 
hospitable  friends,  who  allowed  nothing  to  be  lacking  to  the  enjoy- 
ment and  comfort  of  our  brief  vacation.  But,  notwithstanding  all 
the  attractions  of  that  island  home  in  Lake  Erie,  we  are  to-night 
very  happy  to  be  again  at  home.  The  enthusiastic  welcome  you 
have  extended  to  us  has  added  grace  and  joy.  I  think  I  may 
conclude  that  nothing  has  happened  since  I  have  been  gone  that 
has  disturbed  your  confidence  or  diminished  your  respect.  [Great 
applause  and  cries  of  "No!  no!"]  At  the  outset  of  this  campaign 
I  said  I  would  confidently  commit  all  that  was  personal  to  myself 
to  the  keeping  of  the  intelligent  and  fair-minded  citizens  of  Indiana. 
[Applause.]  We  will  go  on  our  way  in  this  campaign  upon  that 
high  and  dignified  plane  upon  which  it  has  been  pitched,  so  far  as 
it  lay  in  our  power,  commending  the  principles  of  our  party  to 
the  intelligent  interest  of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  trusting  to  truth 
and  right  for  the  victory.  [Applause.]  Most  gratefully  I  acknowl- 
edge the  affectionate  interest  which  has  been  shown  to-night  by  my 
old  comrades  of  the  war.  [Applause.  ]  I  am  glad  to  know  that  in 
this  veteran  organization  there  are  many  who  have  heretofore 
differed  with  me  in  political  opinion,  but  who  are  drawn  in  this 
campaign,  by  a  sense  of  our  common  interests,  to  cast  in  their 
influence  with  us.  I  desire  also  to  thank  the  Railroad  Club  for 
their  kind  greetings.  There  has  been  a  special  significance  in 
their  friendly  organization,  and  I  am  grateful,  also,  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Columbia  Club  for  their  part  in  this  demonstration. 
Now,  with  an  overwhelming  sense  of  inability  to  respond  fittingly 
to  your  cordiality  and  kindness,  I  can  only  thank  you  once  more 
and  bid  you  good-night.  [Applause.] 


100  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  6. 

ON  the  night  of  Sept.  G  General  Harrison,  in  company 
with  General  A.  P.  Hovey,  Ex-Gov.  A.  G.  Porter,  Hon. 
James  N".  Huston,  Hon.  R.  B.  F.  Pierce,  Judge  Walker, 
and  other  friends,  reviewed  from  the  balcony  of  the  New- 
Denison  Hotel  ten  thousand  marching  Republicans. 

It  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  successful  demon- 
strations of  the  campaign.  The  great  line  was  composed  of 
eighty-two  Republican  clubs  and  associations  of  the  city 
of  Indianapolis,  commanded  by  Chief  Marshal  Hon.  Geo. 
W.  Spahr,  assisted  by  the  following  mounted  aids: 
Major  Geo.  Herriott,  Moses  G.  McLain,  Dan'l  M.  Rans- 
dell,  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  W.  H.  H.  Miller,  John  B.  Elam, 
Dr.  Austin  Morris,  Col.  I.  1ST.  Walker,  Wm.  L.  Taylor, 
W.  A.  Pattison,  Capt.  O.  H.  Hibben,  Charles  'Murray, 
Ed.  Thompson,  Charles  Wright,  S.  D.  Pray,  J.  .E.  Has- 
kell,  Wm.  Thomas,  W.  H.  Tucker,  Joseph  Forbes,  Ed. 
Harmon,  Lou  Wade,  John  W.  Bowlus,  M.  L.  Johnson, 
Miles  Reynolds,  W.  E.  Tousey,  R.  H.  Rees,  and  W.  D. 
Wiles. 

The  column  was  divided  into  four  divisions,  commanded 
by  Col.  N.  R.  Ruckle,  Col.  James  B.  Black,  Horace 
McKay,  and  Hon.  Stanton  J.  Peelle.  A  great  mass-meet- 
ing followed  the  parade,  and  the  issues  of  the  campaign 
were  presented  by  General  Hovey,  Gov.  Porter  and  Hon. 
John  M.  Butler. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  8. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  on  this  date  received  perhaps  the 
most  unique  delegation  of  the  campaign :  a  band  of  one 
hundred  girls  and  misses,  aged  from  seven  to  fifteen  years, 
organized  by  Mrs.  Mattie  McCorkle.  At  their  head  rode 
Master  Charles  Pettijohn,  six  years  old,  mounted  upon  a 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  107 

pony,  followed  by  a  drum  corps  of  eight  young  boys.  The 
girls  marched  four  abreast,  dressed  in  uniforms  of  red, 
white  and  blue,  carrying  mounted  Japanese  lanterns. 
They  were  commanded  by  Miss  Florence  Schilling.  After 
singing  "Marching  through  Georgia,"  Master  Petti  John, 
on  behalf  of  the  young  ladies,  presented  the  general  a 
handsome  bouquet  and  made  an  address.  General  Harri- 
son honored  the  young  orator  and  the  club  with  a  speech, 
and  said : 

When  some  one  asked  this  afternoon,  over  the  telephone,  if  I 
would  receive  some  children  who  wanted  to  pay  me  a  visit,  I  gave 
a  very  cheerful  consent,  because  I  thought  I  saw  a  chance  to  have 
a  good  time.  That  you  little  ones  would  demand  a  speech  from 
me  never  entered  my  mind,  nor  did  I  expect  to  see  a  company  so 
prettily  uniformed  and  so  well  drilled,  both  in  marching  and  in 
song. 

Children  have  always  been  attractive  to  me.  I  have  found  not 
only  entertainment  but  instruction  in  their  companionship.  Little 
ones  often  say  wise  things.  In  the  presence  of  such  a  company  as 
this,  one  who  has  any  aspirations  for  the  things  that  are  good  and 
pure  cannot  fail  to  have  them  strengthened.  The  kind  words  you 
have  addressed  to  me  in  song  come,  I  am  sure,  from  sincere  and 
loving  hearts,  and  I  am  very  grateful  for  them  and  for  your  visit. 
Some  of  the  best  friends  I  have  are  under  ten  j^ears  of  age,  and  after 
to-night  I  am  sure  I  shall  have  many  more,  for  all  your  names  will 
be  added. 

And  now  I  hope  you  will  all  come  in  where  we  can  see  you  and 
show  you  whatever  there  is  in  our  home  to  interest  you.  I  would 
like  you  all  to  feel  that  we  will  be  glad  if  you  will  come  to  see  us 
often. 


INDIANAPOLIS,   SEPTEMBER  10. 

GENERAL  HARRISON'S  visitors  to-day  comprised  six 
hundred  G.  A.  R.  veterans  and  their  wives  from  North- 
western Kansas — en  route  to  the  Grand  Encampment — 
under  the  lead  of  General  W.  H.  Caldwell,  Frank  McGrath, 
C.  E.  Monell,  W.  S.  Search,  Dr.  A.  Patten,  J.  W.  Gar- 
ner, and  Dr.  J.  R.  King,  of  Beloit,  Kan.  Colonel  W.  C. 


108  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Whitney,  Commander  of  the  First  Division,  was  orator, 
and  assured  General  Harrison  that  ".Kansas  grew  more 
corn  and  more  babies  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union." 
In  response  the  General  said : 

My  Comrades — I  have  a  choice  to  make  and  you  have  one.  I 
can  occupy  the  few  moments  I  have  to  spare  either  in  public  address 
or  in  private,  personal  greeting.  I  think  you  would  prefer,  as  I 
shall  prefer,  to  omit  the  public  speech  that  I  may  be  presented  to 
each  of  you.  [Cries  of  "Good!  Good  !"]  I  beg  you,  therefore,  to 
permit  me  only  to  say  that  I  very  heartily  appreciate  this  greeting 
from  my  comrades  of  Kansas. 

The  bond  that  binds  us  together  as  soldiers  of  the  late  war  is  one 
that  is  enduring  and  close.  No  party  considerations  can  break  it ; 
it  is  stronger  than  political  ties,  and  we  are  able  thus  in  our  Grand 
Army  associations  to  come  together  upon  that  broad  and  high  plane 
of  fraternity,  loyalty,  and  charity.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good  ! 
Good !"]  Let  me  now,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  extend  a  comrade's 
hand  to  each  of  you.  [Applause.  ] 


GENERAL  HARRISON'S  LETTER  OF  ACCEPTANCE. 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND.,  September  11,  1888. 

HON.    M.  M.  ESTEE   AND  OTHERS,    COMMITTEE,   ETC.  : 

Gentlemen — When  your  committee  visited  me,  on  the  Fourth  of 
July  last,  and  presented  the  official  announcement  of  my  nomination 
for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States  by  the  Republican  conven- 
tion, I  promised  as  soon  as  practicable  to  communicate  to  you  a 
more  formal  acceptance  of  the  nomination.  Since  that  time  the 
work  of  receiving  and  addressing,  almost  daily,  large  delegations 
of  my  fellow-citizens  has  not  only  occupied  all  of  my  time,  but  has 
in  some  measure  rendered  it  unnecessary  for  me  to  use  this  letter 
as  a  medium  of  communicating  to  the  public  my  views  upon  the 
questions  involved  in  the  campaign.  I  appreciate  very  highly  the 
confidence  and  respect  manifested  by  the  convention,  and  accept 
the  nomination  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  and  a  full  sense  of  the 
responsibilities  which  accompany  it. 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  the  declarations  of  the  Chi 
ca,go  convention  upon  the  questions  that  now  attract  the  interest  of 
our  people  are  so  clear  and  emphatic.     There  is  further  cause  of 
congratulation  in  the  fact  that  the  convention  utterances  of  the 
Democratic  party,  if  in  any  degree  uncertain  or  contradictory,  can 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  100 

now  be  judged  and  interpreted  by  executive  acts  and  messages, 
and  by  definite  propositions  in  legislation.  This  is  especially  true 
of  what  is  popularly  known  as  the  Tariff  question.  The  issue  can- 
not now  be  obscured.  It  is  not  a  contest  between  schedules,  but 
between  wide-apart  principles.  The  foreign  competitors  for  our 
market  have,  with  quick  instinct,  seen  how  one  issue  of  this  con- 
test may  bring  them  advantage,  and  our  own  people  are  not  so  dull 
as  to  miss  or  neglect  the  grave  interests  that  are  involved  for  them. 
The  assault  upon  our  protective  system  is  open  and  defiant.  Pro- 
tection is  assailed  as  unconstitutional  in  law,  or  as  vicious  in  prin- 
ciple, and  those  who  hold  such  views  sincerely  cannot  stop  short 
of  an  absolute  elimination  from  our  tariff  larws  of  the  principle  of 
protection.  The  Mills  bill  is  only  a  step,  but  it  is  toward  an  object 
that  the  leaders  of  Democratic  thought  and  legislation  have  clearly 
in  mind.  The  important  question  is  not  so  much  the  length  of 
the  step  as  the  direction  of  it.  Judged  by  the  executive  message 
of  December  last,  by  the  Mills  bill,  by  the  debates  in  Congress,  and 
by  the  St.  Louis  platform,  the  Democratic  party  will,  if  supported 
by  the  country,  place  the  tariff  laws  upon  a  purely  revenue  basis. 
This  is  practical  free  trade — free  trade  in  the  English  sense.  The 
legend  upon  the  banner  may  not  be  "Free  Trade" — it  may  be  the 
more  obscure  motto,  "Tariff  Reform  ;  "  but  neither  the  banner  nor 
the  inscription  is  conclusive,  or,  indeed,  very  important.  The  as- 
sault itself  is  the  important  fact. 

Those  who  teach  that  the  import  duty  upon  foreign  goods  sold 
in  our  market  is  paid  by  the  consumer,  and  that  the  price  of  the 
domestic  competing  article  is  enhanced  to  the  amount  of  the  duty 
on  the  imported  article — that  every  million  of  dollars  collected  for 
customs  duties  represents  many  millions  more  which  do  not  reach 
the  treasury,  but  are  paid  by  our  citizens  as  the  increased  cost  of 
domestic  productions  resulting  from  the  tariff  laws— may  not  intend 
to  discredit  in  the  minds  of  others  our  system  of  levying  duties  on 
competing  foreign  products,  but  it  is  clearly  already  discredited  in 
their  own.  We  cannot  doubt,  without  impugning  their  integrity, 
that  if  free  to  act  upon  their  convictions  they  would  so  revise  our 
laws  as  to  lay  the  burden  of  the  customs  revenue  upon  articles  that 
are  not  produced  in  this  country,  and  to  place  upon  the  free  list 
all  competing  foreign  products.  I  do  not  stop  to  refute  this  theory 
as  to  the  effect  of  our  tariff  duties.  Those  who  advance  it  are 
students  of  maxims  and  not  of  the  markets.  They  may  be  safely 
allowed  to  call  their  project  "  Tariff  Reform, "  if  the  people  under- 
stand that  in  the  end  the  argument  compels  free  trade  in  all  com- 
peting products.  This  end  may  not  be  reached  abruptly,  and  its 


110  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

approach  may  be  accompanied  with  some  expressions  of  sympathy 
for  our  protected  industries  and  our  working  people,  but  it  will 
certainly  come  if  these  early  steps  do  not  arouse  the  people  to  effec- 
tive resistance. 

The  Republican  party  holds  that  a  protective  tariff  is  constitu- 
tional, wholesome,  and  necessary .  We  do  not  offer  a  fixed  schedule, 
but  a  principle.  We  will  revise  the  schedule,  modify  rates,  but 
always  with  an  intelligent  provision  as  to  the  effect  upon  domestic 
productions  and  the  wages  of  our  working  people.  We  believe  it 
to  be  one  of  the  worthy  objects  of  tariff  legislation  to  preserve 
the  American  market  for  American  producers,  and  to  maintain  the 
American  scale  of  wages  by  adequate  discriminative  duties  upon 
foreign  competing  products.  The  effect  of  lower  rates  and  larger 
importations  upon  the  public  revenue  is  contingent  and  doubtful, 
but  not  so  the  effect  upon  American  production  and  American 
wages.  Less  work  and  lower  wages  must  be  accepted  as  the  inevit- 
able result  of  the  increased  offering  of  foreign  goods  in  our  mar- 
ket. By  way  of  recompense  for  this  reduction  in  his  wages,  and 
the  loss  of  the  American  market,  it  is  suggested  that  the  diminished 
wages  of  the  workingman  will  have  an  undiminished  purchasing 
power,  and  that  he  will  be  able  to  make  up  for  the  loss  of  the  home 
market  by  an  enlarged  foreign  market.  Our  workingmen  have 
the  settlement  of  the  question  in  their  own  hands.  They  now 
obtain  higher  wages  and  live  more  comfortably  than  those  of  any 
other  country.  They  will  make  choice  of  the  substantial  advan- 
tages they  have  in  hand  and  the  deceptive  promises  and  forecasts 
of  these  theorizing  reformers.  They  will  decide  for  themselves  and 
for  their  country  whether  the  protective  system  shall  be  continued 
or  destroyed. 

The  fact  of  a  treasury  surplus,  the  amount  of  which  is  variously 
stated,  has  directed  public  attention  to  a  consideration  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  national  income  may  best  be  reduced  to  the 
level  of  a  wise  and  necessary  expenditure.  This  condition  has 
been  seized  upon  by  those  who  are  hostile  to  protective  customs 
duties  as  an  advantageous  base  of  attack  upon  our  tariff  laws. 
They  have  magnified  and  nursed  the  surplus,  which  they  affect  to 
deprecate,  seemingly  for  the  purpose  of  exaggerating  the  evil,  in 
order  to  reconcile  the  people  to  the  extreme  remedy  they  propose. 
A  proper  reduction  of  the  revenues  does  not  necessitate,  and  should 
not  suggest,  the  abandonment  or  impairment  of  the  protective  sys- 
tem. The  methods  suggested  by  our  convention  will  not  need  to 
be  exhausted  in  order  to  effect  the  necessary  reduction.  We  are 
not  likely  to  be  called  upon,  I  think,  to  make  a  present  choice 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  Ill 

between  the  surrender  of  the  protective  system  and  the  entire  repeal 
of  the  internal  taxes.  Such  a  contingency,  in  view  of  the  present 
relation  of  expenditures  to  revenues,  is  remote.  The  inspection 
and  regulation  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  oleomargarine  is 
important,  and  the  revenue  derived  from  it  is  not  so  great  that  the 
repeal  of  the  law  need  enter  into  any  plan  of  revenue  reduction. 
The  surplus  now  in  the  treasury  should  be  used  in  the  purchase  of 
bonds.  The  law  authorizes  this  use  of  it,  and  if  it  is  not  needed 
for  current  or  deficiency  appropriations,  the  people,  and  not  the 
banks  in  which  it  has  been  deposited,  should  have  the  advantage 
of  its  use  by  stopping  interest  upon  the  public  debt.  At  least  those 
who  needlessly  hoard  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  use  the  fear  of 
a  monetary  stringency,  thus  produced,  to  coerce  public  sentiment 
upon  other  questions. 

Closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  tariff  is  that  of  the 
importation  of  foreign  laborers  under  contracts  of  service  to  be  per- 
formed here.  The  law  now  in  force  prohibiting  such  contracts 
received  my  cordial  support  in  the  Senate,  and  such  amendments 
as  may  be  found  necessary  effectively  to  deliver  our  working  men 
and  women  from  this  most  inequitable  form  of  competition  will 
have  my  sincere  advocacy.  Legislation  prohibiting  the  importa- 
tion of  laborers  under  contract  to  serve  here  will,  however,  afford 
very  inadequate  relief  to  our  working  people  if  the  system  of  pro- 
tective duties  is  broken  down.  If  the  products  of  American  shops 
must  compete  in  the  American  market,  without  favoring  duties, 
•with  the  products  of  cheap  foreign  labor  the  effect  will  be  differ- 
ent, if  at  all,  only  in  degree,  whether  the  cheap  laborer  is  across 
the  street  or  over  the  sea.  Such  competition  will  soon  reduce  wages 
here  to  the  level  of  those  abroad,  and  when  that  condition  is 
reached  we  will  not  need  any  laws  forbidding  the  importation  of 
laborers  under  contract — they  will  have  no  inducement  to  come, 
and  the  employer  no  inducement  to  send  for  them. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  our  history  public  agencies  to  promote 
immigration  were  common.  The  pioneer  wanted  a  neighbor  with 
more  friendly  instincts  than  the  Indian.  Labor  was  scarce  and 
fully  employed.  But  the  day  of  the  immigration  bureau  has  gone 
by.  While  our  doors  will  continue  open  to  proper  immigration, 
we  do  not  need  to  issue  special  invitations  to  the  inhabitants  of 
other  countries  to  come  to  our  shores  or  to  share  our  citizenship. 
Indeed,  the  necessity  of  some  inspection  and  limitation  is  obvi- 
ous. We  should  resolutely  refuse  to  permit  foreign  governments 
to  send  their  paupers  and  criminals  to  our  ports.  We  are  also 
clearly  under  a  duty  to  defend  our  civilization  by  excluding  alien 


112  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

races  whose  ultimate  assimilation  with  our  people  is  neither  possi- 
ble nor  desirable.  The  family  has  been  the  nucleus  of  our  best 
immigration,  and  the  home  the  most  potent  assimilating  force  in 
our  civilization. 

The  objections  to  Chinese  immigration  are  distinctive  and  con- 
clusive, and  are  now  so  generally  accepted  as  such  that  the  question 
has  passed  entirely  beyond  the  stage  of  argument.  The  laws  relat- 
ing to  this  subject  would,  if  I  should  be  charged  with  their  enforce- 
ment, be  faithfully  executed.  Such  amendments  or  further  legisla- 
tion as  may  be  necessary  and  proper  to  prevent  evasions  of  the  laws 
and  to  stop  further  Chinese  immigration  would  also  meet  my  ap- 
proval. The  expression  of  the  convention  upon  this  subject  is  in 
entire  harmony  with  my  views. 

Our  civil  compact  is  a  government  by  majorities,  and  the  law  loses 
its  sanction  and  the  magistrate  our  respect  when  this  compact  is 
broken.  The  evil  results  of  election  frauds  do  not  expend  them- 
selves upon  the  voters  who  are  robbed  of  their  rightful  influence  in 
public  affairs.  The  individual  or  community  or  party  that  prac- 
tises or  connives  at  election  frauds  has  suffered  irreparable  injury, 
and  will  sooner  or  later  realize  that  to  exchange  the  American 
system  of  majority  rule  for  minority  control  is  not  only  unlawful 
and  unpatriotic,  but  very  unsafe  for  those  who  promote  it.  The 
disf ranch isement  of  a  single  legal  elector  by  fraud  or  intimidation 
is  a  crime  too  grave  to  be  regarded  lightly.  The  right  of  eveiy 
qualified  elector  to  cast  one  free  ballot  and  to  have  it  honestly 
counted  must  not  be  questioned.  Every  constitutional  power  should 
be  used  to  make  this  right  secure  and  to-  punish  frauds  upon  the 
ballot. 

Our  colored  people  do  not  ask  special  legislation  in  their  interest, 
but  only  to  be  made  secure  in  the  common  rights  of  American  citi- 
zenship. They  will,  however,  naturally  mistrust  the  sincerity  of 
those  party  leaders  who  appeal  to  their  race  for  support  only  in 
those  localities  where  the  suffrage  is  free  and  election  results 
doubtful,  and  compass  their  disf  ranch  isement  where  their  votes 
would  be  controlling  and  their  choice  cannot  be  coerced. 

The  Nation,  not  less  than  the  States,  is  dependent  for  prosperity 
and  security  upon  the  intelligence  and  morality  of  the  people. 
This  common  interest  very  early  suggested  national  aid  in  the 
establishment  and  endowment  of  schools  and  colleges  in  the  new 
States.  There  is,  I  believe,  a  present  exigency  that  calls  for  still 
more  liberal  and  direct  appropriations  in  aid  of  common  school 
education  in  the  States. 

The  territorial  form  of   government  is  a  temporary  expedient, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  113 

not  a  permanent  civil  condition.  It  is  adapted  to  the  exigency 
that  suggested  it,  but  becomes  inadequate,  and  even  oppressive, 
when  applied  to  fixed  and  populous  communities.  Several  Terri- 
tories are  well  able  to  bear  the  burdens  and  discharge  the  duties  of 
free  commonwealths  in  the  American  Union.  To  exclude  them 
is  to  deny  the  just  rights  of  their  people,  and  may  well  excite  their 
indignant  protest.  No  question  of  the  political  preference  of  the 
"people  of  a  Territory  should  close  against  them  the  hospitable  door 
which  has  opened  to  two  thirds  of  the-  existing  States.  But  ad- 
missions should  be  resolutely  refused  to  any  Territory  a  majority 
of  whose  people  cherish  institutions  that  are  repugnant  to  our 
civilization  or  inconsistent  with  a  republican  form  of  government. 

The  declaration  of  the  convention  against  "  all  combinations  of 
capital,  organized  in  trusts  or  otherwise,  to  control  arbitrarily  the 
condition  of  trade  among  our  citizens, "  is  in  harmony  with  the 
views  entertained  and  publicly  expressed  by  me  long  before  the 
assembling  of  the  convention.  Ordinarily,  capital  shares  the  losses 
of  idleness  with  labor ;  but  under  the  operation  of  the  trust,  in 
some  of  its  forms,  the  wageworker  alone  suffers  loss,  while  idle 
capital  receives  its  dividends  from  a  trust  fund.  Producers  who 
refuse,  to  join  the  combination  are  destroyed,  and  competition  as 
an  element  of  prices  is  eliminated.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
legislative  authority  should  and  will  find  a  method  of  dealing  fairly 
and  effectively  with  those  and  other  abuses  connected  with  this 
subject. 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  I  am  heartily  in 
sympathy  writh  the  declaration  of  the  convention  upon  the  subject 
of  pensions  to  our  soldiers  and  sailors.  What  they  gave  and  what 
they  suffered  I  had  some  opportunity  to  observe,  and,  in  a  small 
measure,  to  experience.  They  gave  ungrudgingly  ;  it  was  not  a 
trade,  but  an  offering.  The  measure  was  heaped  up,  running  over. 
What  they  achieved  only  a. distant  generation  can  adequately  tell. 
Without  attempting  to  discuss  particular  propositions,  I  may  add 
that  measures  in  behalf  of  the  surviving  veterans  of  the  war  and  of 
the  families  of  their  dead  comrades  should  be  conceived  and  ex- 
ecuted in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  of  the  most  grateful  liberality,  and 
that,  in  the  competition  for  civil  appointments,  honorable  military 
service  should  have  appropriate  recognition. 

The  law  regulating  appointments  to  the  classified  civil  service 
received  my  support  in  the  Senate  in  the  belief  that  it  opened  the 
way  to  a  much-needed  reform.  I  still  think  so,  and,  therefore, 
cordially  approve  the  clear  and  forcible  expression  of  the  conven- 
tion upon  this  subject.  The  law  should  have  the  aid  of  a  friendly 

8 


114  HARRISONS  SPEECHES. 

interpretation  and  be  faithfully  and  vigorously  enforced.  All  ap- 
pointments under  it  should  be  absolutely  free  from  partisan  con- 
siderations and  influence.  Some  extensions  of  the  classified  list 
are  practicable  and  desirable,  and  further  legislation  extending  the 
reform  to  other  brandies  of  the  service  to  which  it  is  applicable 
would  receive  my  approval.  In  appointment  to  every  grade  and 
department,  fitness,  and  not  party  service,  should  be  the  essential 
and  discriminating  test,  and  fidelity  and  efficiency  the  only  sure" 
tenure  of  office.  Only  the  interests  of  the  public  service  should  sug- 
gest removals  from  office.  I  know  the  practical  difficulties  attend- 
ing the  attempt  to  apply  the  spirit  of  the  civil  service  rules  to  all 
appointments  and  removals.  It  will,  however,  be  my  sincere  pur- 
pose, if  elected,  to  advance  the  reform. 

I  notice  with  pleasure  that  the  convention  did  not  omit  to 
express  its  solicitude  for  the  promotion  of  virtue  and  temperance 
among  our  people.  The  Republican  party  has  always  been  friendly 
to  everything  that  tended  to  make  the  home  life  of  our  people  free, 
pure,  and  prosperous,  and  will  in  the  future  be  true  to  its  history 
in  this  respect. 

Our  relations  with  foreign  powers  should  be  characterized  by 
friendliness  and  respect.  The  right  of  our  people  and  of  our  ships 
to  hospitable  treatment  should  be  insisted  upon  with  dignity  and 
firmness.  Our  Nation  is  too  great,  both  in  material  strength  and 
in  moral  power  to  indulge  in  bluster  or  to  be  suspected  of  timer - 
ousness.  Vacillation  and  inconsistency  are  as  incompatible  with 
successful  diplomacy  as  they  are  with  the  national  dignity.  We 
should  especially  cultivate  and  extend  our  diplomatic  and  commer- 
cial relations  with  the  Central  and  South  American  States.  Our 
fisheries  should  be  fostered  and  protected.  The  hardships  and 
risks  that  are  the  necessary  incidents  of  the  business  should  not 
be  increased  by  an  inhospitable  exclusion  from  the  near-lying  ports. 
The  resources  of  a  firm  dignified,  and  consistent  diplomacy  are  un- 
doubtedly equal  to  the  prompt  and  peaceful  solution  of  the  difficul- 
ties that  now  exist.  Our  neighbors  will  surely  not  expect  in  our 
ports  a  commercial  hospitality  they  deny  to  us  in  theirs. 

I  cannot  extend  this  letter  by  a  special  reference  to  other  subjects 
upon  which  the  convention  gave  an  expression. 

In  respect  to  them,  as  well  as  to  those  I  have  noticed,  I  am  in 
entire  agreement  with  the  declarations  of  the  convention.  The 
resolutions  relating  to  the  coinage,  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  navy, 
to  coast  defences,  and  to  public  lands,  express  conclusions  to  all  of 
which  I  gave  my  support  in  the  Senate. 

Inviting  a  calm  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  these  public 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  115 

questions,  we  submit  them  to  the  people.  Their  intelligent  patriot- 
ism and  the  good  Providence  that  made  and  has  kept  us  a  Nation 
will  lead  them  to  wise  and  safe  conclusions. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


CLAYTON,  IND. ,  SEPTEMBER  13. 
Reunion  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Regiment. 

GENERAL  HARRISON,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Harrison 
and  Mrs.  McKee,  on  September  13  attended  the  four- 
teenth reunion  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Regimental  Asso- 
ciation at  Clayton  village,  Hendricks  County. 

The  Seventieth  Regiment  was  recruited  from  the  coun- 
ties of  Hendricks,  Johnson  and  Marion.  Of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  regiments  sent  to  the  front  by  Indiana, 
but  few,  if  any,  achieved  a  more  honorable  and  distin- 
guished record.  It  was  the  first  regiment  to  report  for 
duty  under  President  Lincoln's  call  of  July,  '62,  and  was 
recruited  in  less  than  a  month  by  Second  Lieutenant 
Benjamin  Harrison. 

After  the  regiment  had  been  recruited  Lieutenant  Harri- 
son was  elected  Captain  of  Company  A,  and  when  the 
regiment  was  organized,  August  7,  1862,  Captain  Harrison 
was  commissioned  its  colonel.  It  left  Indianapolis  for 
the  front  August  13, 1862,  and  returned  thirty-four  months 
later,  with  a  loss  of  189  men.  It  participated  in  eleven 
engagements,  including  Resaca,  Kenesaw,  Marietta,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Savannah  and  Bentonville.  The  regi- 
ment was  a  part  of  Sherman's  army,  and  was  attached 
to  the  First  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Twentieth  Corps. 
For  several  years  past  General  Harrison  has  been  succes- 
sively chosen  President  of  the  Regimental  Association. 

Several  hundred  veterans,  with  their  families,  accom- 
panied the  General  from  Indianapolis,  and  were  greeted  at 
Clayton  by  five  thousand  people.  Three  hundred  veter- 
ans of  the  Seventieth  saluted  their  Colonel  as  he  walked 


110  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

to  the  front  and,  assuming  command,  led  the  column 
to  a  neighboring  grove,  where  the  exercises  of  the  day 
were  held.  It  was  the  largest  reunion  in  the  history 
of  the  Association.  Among  the  prominent  non-resident 
members  in  attendance  were  Lieutenant-Colonel  James 
Burghs,  of  Topeka;  Capt.  Wm.  M.  Meredith,  Chicago  (he 
was  captain  of  Company  E,  the  color  company  of  the  regi- 
ment) ;  Captain  Tansey,  now  Judge,  of  "Winfield,  Kansas ; 
Captain  Willis  Record,  of  Nebraska ;  Lieutenant  Harden- 
brook  and  Private  Snow,  of  Kansas,  and  Cyrus  Butter- 
field,  of  Minneapolis.  The  orator  of  the  day  was  Comrade 
J.M.  Brown. 

General  Harrison,  as  President  of  the  Association,  pre- 
sided. The  proceedings  were  opened  with  prayer  by  Com- 
rade J.H.  Meteer,  followed  by  an  address  of  welcome  by 
Miss  Mary  L.  Mitchell,  daughter  of  Captain  W.  C. 
Mitchell,  who  directed  her  closing  remarks  to  General  Har- 
rison. 

With  great  earnestness  the  General  replied  as  follows : 
Miss  Mitchell — I  feel  quite  incompetent  to  discharge  the  duty  that 
now  devolves  upon  me — that  of  making  suitable  response  to  the 
touching,  cordial  and  sympathetic  words  which  you  have  addressed 
to  us.  We  thank  you  and  the  good  citizens  of  Clayton,  for  whom 
you  have  spoken,  that  you  have  opened  your  hearts  so  fully  to  us 
to-day.  I  am  sure  we  have  never  assembled  under  circumstances 
more  attractive  than  those  that  now  surround  us.  The  mellow  sun- 
shine of  this  autumn-time  that  falls  upon  us,  the  balmy  air  which 
moves  the  leaves  of  those  shadowing  trees,  the  sweet  calm  and  spell 
of  nature  that  is  over  everything,  makes  the  day  one  of  those  that 
may  be  described  in  the  language  of  the  old  poet  as 
"A  bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky." 

Your  hospitable  welcome  makes  us  feel  at  home,  and  in  behalf 
of  this  large  representation  of  our  regiment,  possibly  the  largest 
that  has  assembled  since  the  close  of  the  war,  gathered  not  only 
from  these  adjacent  counties,  but  from  distant  homes  beyond  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,  I  give  you  to-day  in  return  our 
mcst  hearty  thanks  for  your  great  kindness. 

The  autumn-time  is  a  fit  time  for  our  gathering,  for  our  spring- 
time is  gone.  It  was  in  the  spring-time  of  our  lives  that  we  heard 


HARRISON' ,S   XPJKKCHKN.  117 

onr  country's  call.  Full  of  vigor  and  youth  and  patriotism,  we 
responded  to  it.  The  exhaustion  of  march  and  camp  and  battle,  and 
the  civil  strife  of  the  years  that  have  passed  since  the  close  of  the 
war,  have  left  their  marks  upon  us,  and,  as  we  gather  from  year 
to  year,  we  notice  the  signs  of  advancing  age,  and  the  roster  of 
our  dead  is  lengthened.  We  are  reminded  by  the  minutes  of  our 
last  meeting,  that  have  been  read,  of  the  presence  at  our  last  reunion 
of  that  faithful  and  beloved  officer  who  went  out  from  this  county, 
Major  Reagan.  With  a  prophetic  instinct  of  what  was  before  him, 
he  told  us  then  that  it  was  probably  the  last  time  that  he  should 
gather  with  us.  God  has  verified  the  thought  that  was  in  his  mind, 
and  that  simple,  true-hearted,  brave  comrade  has  been  enrolled 
with  the  larger  company.  WTe  are  glad  to-day  to  be  together,  yet 
our  gladness  is  sobered.  As  1  look  into  those  familiar  faces  I  notice 
a  deep  sense  of  satisfaction,  but  I  have  not  failed  to  observe  that 
there  are  tears  in  many  eyes.  We  are  not  moved  to  tears  by  any 
sense  of  regret  that  we  gave  some  service  to  our  country  and  to  its 
flag,  but  only  by  the  sense  that  we  are  not  all  here  to-day,  and 
that  all  who  are  here  will  never  gather  again  in  a  meeting  like 
this.  We  rejoice  that  we  were  permitted  to  make  some  contribu- 
tion to  the  glory  and  credit  and  perpetuity  of  the  Nation  we  love. 
[Applause.] 

Comrades  who  served  under  other  regimental  flags  and  who  have 
gathered  here  with  us  to-day,  we  do  not  boast  of  higher  motives  or 
greater  service  than  yours.  We  welcome  you  to  a  participation  in 
our  reunion.  We  fully  acknowledge  that  you  had  a  full — possibly 
a  fuller — share  than  we  in  the  great  achievements  of  the  war.  We 
claim  only  this  for  the  Seventieth  Indiana — that  we  went  into  the 
service  with  the  full  purpose  to  respond  to  every  order  [cries  of 
"That's  so!"],  and  that  we  never  evaded  a  fight  or  turned  our  backs 
to  the  enemy.  [Applause.]  We  are  not  here  to  exalt  ourselves, 
but  I  cannot  omit  to  say  that  a  purer,  truer  self-consecration  to 
the  flag  and  country  was  never  offered  than  by  you  and  your  dead 
comrades  who,  in  1862,  mustered  for  the  defence  of  the  Union. 
[Applause.] 

It  was  not  in  the  heyday  of  success,  it  was  not  under  the  impres- 
sion that  sixty  days  would  end  the  war,  that  you  were  mustered. 
It  was  when  the  clouds  hung  low  and  disasters  were  thick.  Buell 
was  returning  from  the  Tennessee,  Kirby  Smith  coming  through 
Cumberland  Gap,  and  McClellan  had  been  defeated  on  the  Penin- 
sula. It  seemed  as  if  the  frown  of  God  was  on  our  cause.  It  was 
then,  in  that  hour  of  stress,  that  you  pledged  your  hearts  and  lives 
to  the  country  [applause] ,  in  the  sober  realization  that  the  war  was 


118  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

a  desperate  one,  in  which  thousands  were  to  die.  We  are  glad  that 
God  has  spared  us  to  see  the  magnificent  development  and  increase 
in  strength  and  honor  which  has  come  to  us  as  a  Nation,  and  in 
the  glory  that  has  been  woven  into  the  flag  we  love.  [Great 
applause.]  We  are  glad  that  with  most  of  us  the  struggle  in  life 
has  not  left  us  defeat,  if  it  has  not  crowned  us  with  the  highest 
successes.  We  are  veterans  and  yet  citizens,  pledged,  each  accord- 
ing to  his  own  conscience  and  thought,  to  do  that  which  will  best 
promote  the  glory  of  our  country  and  best  conserve  and  set  in  our 
public  measures  those  patriotic  thoughts  and  purposes  that  took  us 
into  the  war.  [Applause.  ]  It  is  my  wish  to-day  that  every  rela- 
tion I  occupy  to  the  public  or  to  a  political  party  might  be  abso- 
lutely forgotten  [cries  of  ''Good!  good!"],  and  that  I  might  for 
this  day,  among  these  comrades,  be  thought  of  only  as  a  comrade — 
your  old  Colonel.  [Great  applause.  ] 

Nothing  has  given  me  more  pleasure  on  this  occasion  than  to 
notice,  as  I  passed  through  your  streets,  so  beautifully  and  so  taste- 
fully decorated,  that  the  poles  that  have  been  reared  by  the  great 
parties  were  intertwined  [applause] — and  now  I  remind  myself 
that  I  am  not  the  orator  of  this  occasion  [cries  of  "Go  on  !"],  but  its 
presiding  officer.  The  right  discharge  of  that  duty  forbids  much 
talking. 

Comrades  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana,  comrades  of  all  these  asso- 
ciated regiments,  I  am  glad  to  meet  you.  Nothing  shall  sever  that 
bond,  I  hope.  Nothing  that  I  shall  ever  say,  nothing  that  I  shall 
ever  do,  will  weaken  it.  And  now,  if  you  will  permit  me  again 
to  acknowledge  the  generous  hospitality  of  this  community,  and 
in  your  behalf  to  return  them  our  most  sincere  thanks,  I  will  close 
these  remarks  and  proceed  with  the  programme  which  has  been 
provided. 

General  Harrison  was  unanimously  re-elected  President 
of  the  Association,  Colonel  Samuel  Merrill  Vice-President, 
M.  G.  McLean  Secretary,  Major  James  L.  Mitchell 
Treasurer. 

When  the  motion  was  put  by  one  of  the  veterans  on  the 
adoption  of  the  report  re-electing  General  Harrison  to  the 
presidency  of  the  Association,  the  veterans  answered  with 
a  "  Yea"  that  brought  cheer  upon  cheer  from  the  crowd. 

General  Harrison,  visibly  affected,  simply  said :  "  I 
feel  myself  crowned  again  to-day  by  this  evidence  of  com- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  119 

radeship  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana." 
[Cheers.] 

On  his  return  from  Clayton,  General  Harrison  was 
visited  at  his  residence  by  fifty  veterans  of  Potter  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  Sycamore,  111.,  en  route  home  from  the  Columbus 
encampment.  They  were  introduced  by  General  E.  F. 
Button,  colonel  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, and  commander  of  the  Second  Brigade,  Third  Di- 
vision of  the  Twentieth  Army  Corps. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  14. 

ALL  trains  arriving  from  the  East  this  day  brought  large 
delegations  of  homeward-bound  veterans  from  the  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  encampment.  The  first  to  arrive  was  one 
hundred  veterans  of  Ransom  Post,  St.  Louis — General  Sher- 
man's Post — who  were  introduced  by  Col.  Murphy.  Gen- 
eral Harrison,  responding  to  their  greeting,  said : 

Comrades — I  esteem  it  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  associate  with  you 
by  the  use  of  that  form  of  address.  I  know  of  no  human  organiza- 
tion that  can  give  a  better  reason  for  its  existence  than  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  [Cries  of  "Good!"]  It  needs  no 'argu- 
ment to  justify  it,  it  stands  unassailable,  and  admits  of  no  criti- 
cism from  any  quarter.  Its  members  have  rendered  that  service  to 
their  country  in  war,  and  they  maintain  now,  in  peace,  that  honor- 
able, courageous  citizenship  that  entitles  them  to  every  patriot's 
respect.  I  thank  you  for  this  visit,  and  will  be  glad  if  you  will 
now  allow  me  to  welcome  you  to  my  home. 

In  the  afternoon  the  streets  of  Indianapolis  were  over- 
flowing with  marching  veterans  from  Illinois,  Minnesota, 
Missouri,  Wisconsin,  and  Kansas,  headed  by  the  National 
Drum  Corps  of  Minneapolis,  and  commanded  by  Depart- 
ment Commander  Col.  James  A.  Sexton,  of  Chicago,  and  a 
brilliant  staff.  The  great  column  passed  through  the  city 
out  to  the  Harrison  residence.  Conspicuous  at  the  head  of 
the  line  marched  the  distinguished  Governor  of  Wiscon- 


120  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

sin,  General  Jere  M.  Rusk,  surrounded  by  his  staff  of 
seventeen  crippled  veterans,  among  whom  were  Capt.  E. 
G.  Fimme,  Secretary  of  State  of  Wisconsin ;  Col.  H.  B. 
Harshaw,  State  Treasurer;  C.  E.  Estabrook,  Attorney- 
General;  Philip  Cheek,  Insurance  Commissioner;  Col.  H. 
P.  Fischer,  Maj.  J.  R.  Curran,  Maj.  F.  L.  Phillips,  Maj. 
F.  H.  Conse;  Captains  W.  W.  Jones,  H.  W.  Lovejoy,  and 
W.  H.  McFarland.  Eighty  members  of  the  Woman's 
Relief  Corps  accompanied  the  veterans,  and  were  given 
positions  of  honor  at  the  reception.  When  General  Harri- 
son appeared  he  was  tendered  an  ovation.  Governor  Rusk 
said :  "  Comrades — I  consider  it  both  an  honor  and  a  pleas- 
ure in  introducing  to  you  the  President  of  the  United 
States  for  the  next  eight  years — General  Benjamin  Harri- 
son." [Cheers.] 

General  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

Governor  Rusk,  Comrades  of  the  Grand  Army,  and  Ladies — I  did 
not  suppose  that  the  Constitution  of  our  country  would  be  sub- 
jected to  so  serious  a  fracture  by  the  executive  of  one  of  our  great 
States.  [Laughter.]  Four  years  is  the  constitutional  term  of  the 
President.  [Laughter.  ]  I  am  glad  to  see  you  ;  I  return  your  friendly 
greetings  most  heartily.  Your  association  is  a  most  worthy  one. 
As  I  said  to  some  comrades  who  visited  me  this  morning,  it  has 
the  best  reason  for  its  existence  of  any  human  organization  that  I 
know  of.  [Applause.]  •  I  am  glad  to  know  that  your  recent  en- 
campment at  Columbus  was  so  largely  attended,  and  was  in  all  its 
circumstances  so  magnificent  a  success.  The  National  Encamp- 
ment of  the  G.  A.R.  is  an  honor  to  any  city.  The  proudest  may 
well  array  itself  in  its  best  attire  to  welcome  the  Union  veterans 
of  the  late  war.  In  these  magnificent  gatherings,  so  impressive  in 
numbers  and  so  much  more  impressive  in  the  associations  they 
revive,  there  is  a  great  teaching  force.  If  it  is  worthwhile  to  build 
monuments  to  heroism  and  patriotic  sacrifice  that  may  stand  as 
dumb  yet  eloquent  instructors  of  the  generation  that  is  to  come,  so 
it  is  worth  while  that  these  survivors  of  the  war  assemble  in  their 
national  encampments  and  inarch  once  more,  unarmed,  through 
the  streets  of  our  cities,  whose  peace  and  prosperity  they  have 
secured.  [Applause.] 

Every  man  and  every  woman  should  do  them  honor.  We  have  a 
body  of  citizen  soldiers  instructed  in  tactics  and  strategy  and  ac- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  121 

customed  to  the  points  of  war  that  make  this  Nation  very  strong 
and  formidable.  I  well  remember  that  even  in  the  second  year  of 
the  war  instructors  in  tactics  were  rare  in  our  own  camps.  They 
are  very  numerous  now.  [Laughter.]  Yet,  while  this  Nation  was 
never  so  strong  in  a  great  instructed,  trained  body  of  veteran 
soldiers,  I  think  it  was  never  more  strongly  smitten  with  the  love 
of  peace.  The  man  that  would  rather  fight  than  eat  has  not  sur- 
vived the  last  war.  [Laughter.  ]  He  was  laid  away  in  an  early 
grave  or  enrolled  on  the  list  of  deserters.  But  he  would  be  mis- 
taken who  supposes  that  all  the  hardships  of  the  war — its  cruel,  hard 
memories — would  begin  to  frighten  those  veterans  from  the  front 
if  the  flag  was  again  assailed  or  the  national  security  or  dignity 
imperilled.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "You  are  right!"]  The  war 
was  also  an  educator  in  political  economy. 

These  veterans,  who  saw  how  the  poverty  of  the  South  in  the 
development  of  her  manufacturing  interests  paralyzed  the  skill  of 
her  soldiers  and  the  generalship  of  her  captains,  have  learned  to 
esteem  and  value  our  diversified  manufacturing  interests.  [Ap- 
plause. ]  You  know  that  woollen  mills  and  flocks  would  have  been 
more  valuable  to  the  Confederacy  than  battalions  ;  that  foundries 
and  arsenals  and  skilled  mechanical  labor  was  the  great  lack  of  the 
Confederacy.  You  have  learned  that  lesson  so  well  that  you  will 
not  wish  our  rescued  country,  by  any  fatal  free-trade  policy,  to  be 
brought  to  a  like  condition.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good! 
good  !"]  And  now,  gentlemen,  I  had  a  stipulation  that  I  was  not 
to  speak  at  all.  [Laughter.]  You  will  surely  allow  me  now  to 
stop  this  formal  address,  and  to  welcome  my  comrades  to  our  home. 
[Applause.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  15. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  held  three  receptions  this  date. 
The  first  was  tendered  the  Scott  Rifles  of  Kansas  City,  all 
members  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  en  route  home  from  the  Colum- 
bus encampment.  They  wore  the  regulation  blue  uniform 
and  carried  muskets.  Captain  Brant  introduced  his  com- 
pany, stating  that  in  bringing  their  arms  with  them  "  they 
did  not  intend  to  do  General  Harrison  any  violence."  The 
General  responded : 

Captain  and  Comrades — I  did  not  need  to  be  assured  that  comrades 
of  the  Grand  Army,  whether  bearing  arms  or  not,  brought  iiMe  no 


122  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

peril.  No  loyal  and  orderly  citizen  will  mistrust  their  friendliness. 
The  people  of  Indiana  will  not  ask  that  you  procure  any  permit  or 
give  bond  to  keep  the  peace  before  passing  through  this  loyal  State 
with  arms  in  your  hands. 

I  am  especially  complimented  by  the  visit  of  this  organized  com- 
pany of  the  Missouri  militia,  composed  wholly  of  Union  veterans. 
It  gives  evidence  that  those  who  served  in  the  Civil  War  are  still 
watchful  of  the  honor  and  safety  of  our  country  and  its  flag ;  that 
our  Government  may  rest  with  security  upon  the  defence  which 
our  citizen -soldiers  offer. 

And  now,  without  alluding  at  all  to  any  topic  of  partisan  in- 
terest, I  bid  you  welcome,  and  will  be  pleased  to  have  a  personal 
introduction  to  each  of  you,  if  that  is  your  pleasure. 

The  second  reception  was  extended  to  a  delegation  of 
twelve  hundred  workingmen  from  New  Albany,  Floyd 
County,  organized  into  political  clubs,  among  whose  leaders 
were  Walter  B.  Godfrey,  M.  V.  Mallory,  Geo.  B.  Cardwell, 
M.  M.  Hurley,  W.  A.  Maynor,  Andrew  Fite,  Chas.  R. 
Clarke,  J.  W.  Edmonson.  L.  L.  Pierce,  Horace  Brown,  N". 
D.  Morris,  T.  W.  Armstrong,  D.  C.  Anthony,  John  Halm, 
R.  E.  Burke,  Albert  Hopkins,  F.  D.  Connor,  Frank  Norton, 
M.  McDonald,  M.  H.  Sparks,  W.  H.  Russell,  J.  N.  Peyton, 
Daniel  Prosser,  Geo.  Roberts,  and  G.  H.  Pennington.  A 
band  of  G.  A.  R.  veterans  from  far-off  Texas  happened 
to  be  present  at  the  reception,  among  them  Col.  J.  C.  De 
Gress,  Win.  Long,  John  Herman,  S.  C.  Slade,  W.  H.  Nye, 
W.  H.  Tuttle,  Geo.  A.  Knight,  and  Dr.  S.  McKay.  James 
A.  Atkinson,  a  glassblower  of  the  De  Pauw  works  at  New 
Albany,  delivered  an  able  address  on  behalf  of  the  visitors. 
General  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

My  Felloiv- citizens— There  is  something  very  distinctive,  very 
interesting,  and  very  instructive  in  this  large  delegation  of  work- 
ingmen from  the  city  of  New  Albany  Your  fellow- workman 
and  spokesman  has  so  eloquently  presented  that  particular  issue 
upon  which  you  have  the  greatest  interest  that  I  can  add  nothing 
to  the  force  or  conclusiveness  of  his  argument.  He  has  said  that 
the  interests  of  the  workingmen  were  especially  involved  in  the 
pending  political  contest.  I  think  that  is  conceded  even  by  our 
political  opponents.  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  man  so  dull  or  so 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  123 

unfair  as  to  deny  that  the  reduction  of  our  tariff  rates  so  as  to 
destroy  the  principle  of  protection  now  embodied  in  our  laws  will 
have  an  influence  on  your  wages  and  on  the  production  of  your 
mills  and  factories.  If  this  be  true,  then  your  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion is  apparent.  You  will  want  to  know  whether  the  influence 
of  the  proposed  reduction  of  rates  is  to  be  beneficial  or  hurtful ; 
whether  the  effect  will  be  to  stimulate  or  diminish  production  ; 
whether  it  will  be  to  maintain  or  increase  the  rate  of  wages  you 
are  now  receiving,  or  to  reduce  them.  As  you  shall  settle  these 
questions,  so  will  you  vote  in  November.  [Applause.] 

No  man  can  doubt  that  a  reduction  of  duties  will  stimulate  the 
importation  of  foreign  merchandise.  None  of  these  plate-glass 
workers  can  doubt  that  a  reduction  of  the  duty  upon  plate -glass 
will  increase  the  importation  of  French  plate-gla,ss. 

None  of  these  workers  in  your  woollen  mills  can  doubt  that  the 
reduction  of  the  duty  upon  the  product  of  their  mills  will  increase 
the  importation  of  foreign  woollen  goods. 

And,  if  that  is  true,  is  it  not  also  clear  that  this  increased  im- 
portation of  foreign-made  goods  means  some  idle  workingmen  in 
your  mills?  The  party  that  favors  such  discriminating  duties  as 
will  develop  American  production  and  secure  the  largest  amount 
of  work  for  our  American  shops  is  the  party  whose  policy  will  pro- 
mote your  interests.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  Hit  him  again  !"] 
I  have  heard  it  said  by  some  leaders  of  Democratic  thought  that 
the  reduction  proposed  by  the  Mills  bill,  and  the  further  reduction 
which  some  of  them  are  candid  enough  to  admit  they  contemplate, 
will  stimulate  American  production  by  opening  foreign  markets 
and  that  the  interests  of  our  Indiana  manufacturing  establishments 
would  thus  be  promoted.  But  those  who  advance  thi  argument 
also  say  that  it  will  not  do  to  progress  too  rapidly  in  the  direction 
of  free  trade — that  we  must  go  slowly,  because  our  protected  indus- 
tries cannot  stand  too  rapid  an  advance ;  it  would  not  be  safe. 
[Laughter.]  Now,  my  countrymen,  if  this  plan  of  revenue  reform 
is  to  be  promotive  of  our  manufacturing  interests,  why  go  slowly? 
Why  not  open  the  gates  wide  and  let  us  have  the  promised  good 
all  at  once?  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

Is  it  that  these  philosophers  think  the  cup  of  prosperity  will  be 
so  sw^eet  and  full  that  our  laboring  people  cannot  be  allowed  to 
drink  it  at  one  draught?  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Good!  good!"] 
No,  my  countrymen,  this  statement  implies  what  these  gentlemen 
know  to  be  true — that  the  effect  of  the  proposed  legislation  is 
diminished  production  and  diminished  wages,  and  they  desire  that 
you  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  get  used  to  it.  [Applause.]  But 


124  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

I  cannot  press  this  discussion  further.  I  want  to  thank  you  for 
the  cordial  things  you  have  said  to  me  by  him  who  has  spoken  for 
you.  I  trust,  and  have  always  trusted,  the  intelligence  and  con- 
science of  our  working  people.  [Applause.] 

They  will  inevitably  find  out  the  truth,  and  when  they  find  it 
they  will  justify  it.  Therefore,  there  are  many  things  that  have 
been  said  to  which  I  have  not  and  shall  not  allude  while  this  con- 
test is  on.  They  are  with  you :  the  truth  is  accessible  to  you,  and 
you  will  find  it.  Now,  thanking  you  most  heartily  for  the  personal 
respect  you  have  evidenced,  and  congratulating  you  upon  your 
intelligent  devotion  to  that  great  American  system  which  has 
spread  a  sky  of  hope  above  you  and  your  children,  I  bid  you  good- 
by.  [Cheers.  ] 

The  crowning  event  of  the  day  was  the  reception  of 
several  hundred  members  of  the  Irish- American  Republi- 
can Club  of  Cook  County  and  Chicago.  The  visitors  were 
met  by  the  Home  Irish- American  Protection  Club,  Patrick 
A.  Ward,  President,  assisted  by  the  Columbia  Club  and 
several  thousand  citizens.  Their  demonstration  was  one 
of  the  most  notable  of  the  campaign.  This  club  was  the 
first  political  organization  in  the  country  to  congratulate 
General  Harrison  on  his  nomination.  The  evening  of 
June  25  the  club  met  and  adopted  the  following,  which 
was  telegraphed  the  General : 

The  Irish-American  Republican  Club  of  Cook  County,  Illinois, 
congratulate  you  and  the  country  upon  your  nomination.  We 
greet  the  gallant  soldier  and  true  American,  and  rejoice  with  our 
fellow- citizens  of  every  nationality  in  the  glad  assurance  your 
nomination  gives  that  the  industries  of  our  country  will  be  pro- 
tected and  the  honor  of  the  Nation  maintained  with  the  same 
courage  and  devotion  that  distinguished  you  on  the  bloody  field  of 
Resaca.  We  salute  the  next  President  of  the  Republic. 

NATHAN  P.  BRADY,  President. 

Leaders  of  the  delegation  were  Hon.  John  F.  Finerty, 
F.  J.  Gleason,  Dennis  Ward,  Richard  Powers,  and  Messrs. 
Russell  and  O'  Morey.  Thomas  F.  Byron,  of  Lowell, 
Mass.,  founder  of  the  Land  League  in  America,  accom- 
panied the  club.  In  the  absence  of  President  Brady  their 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  125 

spokesman  was  Mr.  John  F.  Beggs.      General   Harrison 
delivered  one  of  his  happiest  responses.     He  said : 

Mr.  Beggs  and  my  Friends  of  the  Irish -American  Republican  Chib 
of  Cook  County,  III. — You  were  Irishmen,  you  are  Americans 
[cheers] — Irish- Americans  [continued  cheering],  and  though  you 
have  given  the  consecrated  loyalty  of  your  honest  hearts,  to  the 
starry  flag  and  your  adopted  country,  you  have  not  and  you  ought 
not  to  forget  to  love  and  venerate  the  land  of  your  nativity. 
[Great  applause.]  If  you  could  forget  Ireland,  if  you  could  be  un- 
moved by  her  minstrelsy,  untouched  by  the  appeals  of  her  splendid 
oratory,  unsympathetic  with  her  heroes  and  martyrs,  I  should  fear 
that  the  bonds  of  your  new  citizenship  would  have  no  power  over 
hearts  so  cold  and  consciences  so  dead.  [Cheers.  ] 

What  if  a  sprig  of  green  were  found  upon  the  bloody  jacket  of  a 
Union  soldier  who  lay  dead  on  Missionary  Ridge?  The  flag  he 
died  for  was  his  flag  and  the  green  was  only  a  memory  and  an 
inspiration. 

We,  native  or  Irish  born,  join  with  the  Republican  convention 
in  the  hope  that  the  cause  of  Irish  home  rule,  progressing  under 
the  leadership  of  Gladstone  and  Parnell  [cheers]  upon  peaceful 
and  lawful  lines,  may  yet  secure  for  Ireland  that  which  as  Ameri- 
cans we  so  much  value— local  home  rule.  [Cheering.  ]  I  am  sure 
that  you  who  have,  in  your  own  persons  or  in  your  worthy  repre- 
sentatives, given  such  convincing  evidence  of  your  devotion  to  the 
American  Constitution  and  flag  and  to  American  institutions  will 
not  falter  in  this  great  civil  contest  which  your  spokesman  has  so 
fittingly  described.  Who,  if  not  Irish -Americans  versed  in  the 
sad  story  of  the  commercial  ruin  of  the  island  they  love,  should  be 
instructed  in  the  beneficent  influence  of  a  protective  tariff?  [Con- 
tinuous cheering.]  Who,  if  not  Irish- Americans  should  be  able 
to  appreciate  the  friendly  influences  of  the  protective  system  upon 
their  individual  and  upon  their  home  life?  Which  of  you  has  not 
realized  that  not  the  lot  of  man  only,  but  the  lot  of  woman,  has 
been  made  softer  and  easier  under  its  influence?  [Applause  and 
''  Hear  !  hear  !"]  Contrast  the  American  mother  and  wife,  burdened 
only  with  the  cares  of  motherhood  and  of  the  household,  with  the 
condition  of  women  in  many  of  the  countries  of  the  Old  World, 
where  she  is  loaded  also  with  the  drudgery  of  toil  in  the  field. 
[Applause.  ] 

I  know  that  none  more  than  Irishmen,  who  are  so  characterized 
by  their  deference  for  women,  and  whose  women  have  so  fitly 
illustrated  that  which  is  pure  in  female  character,  will  value  this 


126  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

illustration  of  the  good  effects  of  our  American  system  upon  the 
home  life.  [Continued  applause.  ] 

There  are  nations  across  the  sea  who  are  hungry  for  the  Ameri- 
can market.  They  are  waiting  with  eager  expectation  for  the 
adoption  of  a  free- trade  policy  by  the  United  States.  [Cries  of 
"That  will  never  happen!"]  The  English  manufacturer  is  per- 
suaded that  an  increased  market  for  English  goods  in  America  is 
good  for  him,  but  I  think  it  will  be  impossible  to  persuade  the 
American  producer  and  the  American  workman  that  it  is  good  for 
them.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  That's  right !"]  I  believe  that  social 
order,  that  national  prosperity,  are  bound  up  in  the  preservation 
of  our  existing  policy.  [Loud  cheering  and  cries  of  ''You  are 
right!"]  I  do  not  believe  that  a  republic  can  live  and  prosper 
whose  wage -earners  do  not  receive  enough  to  make  life  comfort- 
able, who  do  not  have  some  upward  avenues  of  hope  open  before 
them.  When  the  wage-earners  of  the  land  lose  hope,  when  the  star 
goes  out,  social  order  is  impossible,  and  after  that  anarchy  or  the 
Czar.  [Cheering.  ] 

I  gratefully  acknowledge  the  compliment  of  your  call,  and  exceed- 
ingly regret  that  the  storm  without  made  it  impossible  for  me  to 
receive  you  at  my  house.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  Thanks ! 
thanks !"]  I  will  now  be  glad  to  take  each  member  of  your  club 
by  the  hand.  [Continued  cheering.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  18. 

GENERAL  HARRISON'S  callers  to-day  numbered  about 
five  thousand,  over  half  of  whom  came  from  Vermilion 
County,  Illinois,  led  by  a  company  of  young  ladies,  in 
uniform,  from  the  town  of  Sidell.  Hon.  Samuel  Stansbury 
of  Danville  was  Marshal  of  the  delegation,  aided  by  E.  C. 
Boudinot,  D.  G.  Moore,  Chas.  A.  Allen,  J.  G.  Thompson, 
and  W.  C.  Cowan.  Col.  W.  R.  Jewell,  editor  Danville 
Daily  Neius,  was  spokesman.  General  Harrison,  in  re- 
sponse, said: 

My  Illinois  Friends — The  people  of  your  State  were  very  early  in 
giving  evidence  to  our  people  and  to  me  that  they  are  deeply  and 
generally  interested  in  this  campaign.  I  welcome  you  and  accept 
your  coming  as  evidence  that  the  early  interest  you  manifested  has 
suffered  no  abatement.  It  was  not  an  impulse  that  stirred  you. 


HARRISON'S   SPEECHES.  127 

but  a  deep  conviction  that  matters  of  great  and  lasting  consequence 
to  your  country  are  involved  in  this  campaign.  Your  representa- 
tive in  Congress,  Hon.  Joseph  Cannon,  is  well  known  in  Indiana. 
[Applause.]  I  have  known  him  for  many  years;  have  observed 
his  conduct  in  the  National  Congress,  and  always  with  admiration. 
He  is  a  fearless,  aggressive,  honest  Republican  leader.  [Applause 
and  cries  of  "  Good  !  good  !"]  He  is  worthy  of  the  favor  and  con- 
fidence you  have  shown  him. 

If  some  one  were  to  ask  to-day,  "What  is  the  matter  with  the 
United  States?"  [laughter  and  cries  of  "She's  all  right!"]  I  am 
sure  we  would  hear  some  Democratic  friend  respond,  "Its  people 
are  oppressed  and  impoverished  by  tariff  taxation. "  [Laughter.  ] 
Ordinarily  our  people  can  be  trusted  to  know  when  they  are  taxed  ; 
but  this  Democratic  friend  will  tell  us  that  the  tariff  tax  is  so  in- 
sidious that  our  people  pay  it  without  knowing  it.  That  is  a  very 
unhappy  condition,  indeed.  But  his  difficulties  are  not  all  sur- 
mounted when  he  has  convinced  his  hearers  that  a  customs  duty  is 
a  tax,  for  history  does  not  run  well  with  his  statement  that  our 
people  have  been  impoverished  by  our  tariff  system.  Another 
answer  to  your  question  will  be  perhaps  that  there  is  now  a  great 
surplus  in  the  Treasury — he  will  probably  not  state  the  figures, 
for  there  seems  to  be  a  painful  uncertainty  about  that.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  that  this  surplus  was  held  chiefly  to  be  talked 
about.  The  laws  provide  a  use  for  it  that  would  speedilj'  place  it 
in  circulation.  If  a  business  man  finds  an  accumulated  surplus 
that  he  does  not  need  in  his  business,  that  stands  as  a  bank  balance 
and  draws  no  interest,  and  if  he  has  notes  outside  to  mature  in  the 
future  he  will  make  a  ready  choice  between  leaving  his  balance  in 
the  bank  and  using  it  to  take  up  his  obligations.  [Applause.] 
But  in  our  national  finances  the  other  choice  has  been  made,  and 
this  surplus  remains  in  the  national  bank  without  interest,  while 
our  bonds,  which,  under  the  law,  might  be  retired  by  the  use  of 
it,  continue  to  draw  interest. 

You  have  a  great  agricultural  State.  Its  prairies  offer  the  most 
tempting  invitation  to  the  settler.  I  have  heard  it  suggested  that 
one  reason  why  you  have  outstripped  Indiana  in  population  was 
because  the  men  who  were  afraid  of  the  "deadening"  passed  over  us 
to  seek  your  treeless  plains.  [Applause.  ]  But  you  have  not  been 
contented  to  be  only  an  agricultural  community.  You  have  de- 
veloped your  manufactures  and  mechanical  industries  until  now, 
if  my  recollection  is  not  at  fault,  for  every  two  persons  engaged  in 
agricultural  labor  you  have  one  engaged  in  manufacturing,  in  the 
mechanical  arts  and  mining.  It  is  this  subdivision  of  labor,  these 


US  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

diversified  industries,  that  make  Illinois  take  rank  so  near  the  head 
among  the  States.  By  this  home  interchange  of  the  products  of  the 
farm  and  shop,  made  possible  by  our  protective  system,  Illinois  has 
been  able  to  attain  her  proud  position  in  the  union  of  the  States. 
Shall  \ve  continue  a  policy  that  has  wrought  so  marvellously  since 
the  'war  in  the  development  of  all  those  States  that  have  given 
hospitable  access  to  manufacturing  capital  and  to  the  brawn  and 
skill  of  the  workingman?  [Cries  of  "Good  !  good  !"  and  cheers.] 

From  Louisville,  Ky.,  came  1,000  enthusiastic  visi- 
tors, led  by  the  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Riley,  Hon.  R.  R.  Glover, 
Hon.  Albert  Scott,  W.  W.  Huffman,  W.  M.  Collins,  M. 
E.  Malone,  and  J.  J.  Jonson.  A.  E.  Willson,  of  Louisville, 
delivered  a  stirring  address  on  behalf  of  the  Republicans 
of  Kentucky,  to  which  General  Harrison  responded  as 
follows : 

My  Kentucky  Friends — There  have  been  larger  delegations  as- 
sembled about  this  platform,  but  there  has  been  none  that  has  in  a 
higher  degree  attracted  my  interest  or  touched  my  heart.  [Ap- 
plause.] It  has  been  quite  one  thing  to  be  a  Republican  in 
Illinois  and  quite  another  to  be  a  Republican  in  Kentucky. 
[Applause.  ]  Not  the  victors  only  in  a  good  fight  deserve  a  crown  ; 
those  who  fight  well  and  are  beaten  and  fight  again,  as  you 
have  done,  deserve  a  crown,  though  victory  never  yet  has  perched 
on  your  banner.  [A  voice,  "It  will  perch  there,  though,  don't  you 
forget  it !'']  Yes,  it  wrill  come,  for  the  bud  of  victory  is  always  in 
the  truth.  I  will  not  treat  you  to-day  to  any  statistics  from  the 
census  reports  [laughter] ,  nor  enter  the  attractive  field  of  the  history 
of  your  great  State.  I  have  believed  that  these  visiting  delegations 
were  always  well  advised  as  to  the  history  and  statistics  of  their 
respective  States.  [Laughter.  ]  If  this  trust  has  been  misplaced  in 
other  cases,  certainly  Kentuckians  can  be  trusted  to  remember  and 
perhaps  to  tell  all  that  is  noble  in  the  thrilling  history  of  their  great 
State.  [Great  applause.  ]  Your  history  is  very  full  of  romantic 
and  thrilling  adventure  and  of  instances  of  individual  heroism. 
Your  people  have  always  been  proud,  chivalric,  and  brave.  In  the 
late  war  for  the  Union,  spite  of  all  distraction  and  defection, 
Kentucky  stood  by  the  old  flag.  [Applause.]  And  now  that  the 
war  is  over  and  its  bitter  memory  is  forgotten,  there  is  not  one, 
I  hope,  in  all  your  borders,  wTho  does  not  bless  the  outcome  of  that 
great  struggle.  [Applause.]  Surely  there  are  none  in  Kentucky 
who  do  not  rejoice  that  the  beautiful  river  is  not  a  river  of  di- 


HARRISONS  SPEECHES.  129 

vision.  [Great  applause.]  And  now  what  hinders  that  Kentucky 
shall  step  forward  in  the  great  industrial  rivalry  between  the 
States?  Is  there  not,  as  your  spokesman  has  suggested,  in  the 
eai'ly  and  thorough  instruction  which  the  people  of  Kentucky 
received  from  the  mouth  of  your  matchless  orator,  Henry  Clay 
[applause] ,  a  power  that  shall  yet  and  speedily  bring  back  Ken- 
tucky to  the  support  of  our  protective  system?  [Applause.]  Can 
the  old  Whigs,  who  so  reverently  received  from  the  lips  of  Clay 
the  gospel  of  protection,  much  longer  support  a  revenue  policy  that 
they  know  to  be  inimical  to  our  national  interests?  If  when  Ken- 
tucky was  a  slave  State  she  found  a  protective  tariff  promoted  the 
prosperity  of  her  people,  what  greater  things  will  the  same  policy 
not  do  for  her  as  a  free  State?  She  has  now  opened  her  hospitable 
doors  to  skilled  labor ;  her  coal  and  metals  and  hemp  invite  its 
transforming  touch.  Why  should  she  not  speedily  find  great  manu- 
facturing cities  spring  up  in  her  beautiful  valleys?  Shall  any  old 
prejudice  spoil  this  hopeful  vision  ?  [Great  applause.  ]  I  remember 
that  Kentucky  agitated  for  seven  years  and  held  nine  conventions 
before  she  secured  a  separate  statehood.  May  I  not  appeal  to  the 
children  of  those  brave  settlers  who,  when  but  few  in  number, 
composed  of  distant  and  feeble  settlements,  were  received  into  the 
Union  of  States,  to  show  their  chivalry  and  love  of  justice  by  unit- 
ing with  us  in  the  demand  that  Dakota  and  Washington  shall  be 
admitted?  [Applause.  ]  Does  not  your  own  story  shame  those  who 
represent  you  in  the  halls  of  Congress  and  who  bar  the  door  against 
communities  whose  numbers  and  resources  so  vastly  outreach  what 
you  possessed  when  you  were  admitted  to  statehood?  We  look 
hopefully  to  Kentucky.  The  State  of  Henry  Clay  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  [enthusiastic  cheering]  cannot  be  much  longer  forgetful 
[cries  of  "No!  no!"]  of  the  teachings  of  those  great  leaders  of 
thought. 

I  believe  that  Kentucky  will  place  herself  soon  upon  the  side  of 
the  truth  upon  these  great  questions.  [A  voice,  "We  believe  it!" 
Another  voice,  "We  will  keep  them  out  of  Indiana,  anyhow  !" 
Great  cheering.]  Thank  you.  There  is  no  better  way  that  I 
know  of  to  keep  one  detachment  of  an  army  from  re- enforcing 
another  than  by  giving  that  detachment  all  it  can  do  in  its  own 
field.  [Applause  and  laughter.] 

The  last  visitors  of  the  day  were  200  delegates,  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  sessions  of  the  National  Association  of  Union 
Ex-Prisoners  of  War.     They  were  led  by   Gen.  W.  H. 
Powell,  of  Belleville,  Iowa,  President  of  the  Association ; 


130  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

E.  H.  Williams,  of  Indianapolis,  Vice-President ;  Chap- 
lain C.  C.  McCabe,  New  York  City;  Historian  Frank  E. 
Moran,  Philadelphia;  President-elect  Thomas  H.  McKee 
and  Secretary  L.  P.  Williams,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  S.  N. 
Long, of  New  Jersey,and  J.  W.  Green, of  Ohio.  Every  one 
of  the  visiting  veterans  had  undergone  imprisonment  at 
Andersonville,  Libby,  or  some  less  noted  Southern  prison. 
Conspicuous  among  them  was  Gen.  B.  F.  Kelly,  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  first  Union  officer  wounded  in  the  rebellion,  and 
J.  A.  January,  of  Illinois,  who  amputated  both  his  own 
feet  while  in  Libby  Prison,  to  prevent  gangrene  spreading. 
General  Powell,  in  a  brief  address,  touchingly  referred  to 
the  perils  and  hardships  they  had  survived.  General 
Harrison  was  greatly  affected  by  the  scene — the  veterans 
grouped  closely  about  him  in  his  own  house.  He  paused 
a  moment  in  silence,  then  in  a  low,  sympathetic  voice, 
said: 

General  Powell  and  Comrades — I  am  always  touched  when  I  meet 
either  with  those  who  stood  near  about  me  in  the  service,  or  those 
who  shared  the  general  comradeship  of  the  war,  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  wild  exhilaration  which  in  the  earlier  reunions  we  often 
saw  is  very  much  sobered  as  we  come  together  now.  I  have 
realized  in  meeting  with  my  own  regiment  this  fall  that  it  was 
a  time  when  one  felt  the  touches  of  the  pathetic.  And  yet  there 
was  a  glow  of  satisfaction  in  being  together  again  and  in  thinking 
of  what  was  and  what  is.  The  annals  of  the  war  fail  to  furnish 
a  sadder  story  than  that  of  the  host  of  Union  veterans  who  suffered 
war's  greatest  hardship— captivity.  The  story  of  the  rebel  prison 
pens  was  one  of  grim  horror.  In  the  field  our  armies,  always 
brave,  were  generally  always  chivalric  and  humane.  But  the  treat- 
ment of  the  captured  Union  soldiers  surpassed  in  fiendish  cruelty 
the  best  achievements  of  the  savage.  It  is  the  black  spot  without 
any  lining  of  silver  or  any  touch  of  human  nature.  But  you  have 
cause  for  congratulation  that  you  have  been  spared  to  the  glory  and 
prosperity  that  your  services  and  sufferings  have  brought  to  the 
Nation.  The  most  vivid  imagination  has  drawn  no  picture  of  the 
full  meaning  to  our  people  and  to  the  world  of  these  simple 
words— we  saved  the  Union,  perpetuated  free  government,  and 
abolished  slavery.  [Prolonged  applause.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  131 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  19. 

FIVE  delegations  paid  their  respects  to  the  Republican 
nominee  this  day.  The  first  was  sixty  veterans  of  the 
Seventh  Indiana  Cavalry — General  J.  P.  Shanks'  old 
regiment.  Colonel  Lewis  Reeves,  of  Mentone,  InxL,  made 
the  address  on  behalf  of  the  veterans,  to  which  General 
Harrison  responded : 

Comrades — I  recall  the  services  of  your  gallant  regiment.  I 
welcome  you  as  men  who  had  as  honorable  a  part  in  the  great 
achievements  of  the  Union  army  as  any  in  the  Civil  War.  I  con- 
gratulate you  that  you  have  been  spared  to  see  the  fruits  of  your 
labors  and  sacrifices.  In  these  meetings  the  thought  of  those  who 
did  not  live  to  see  the  end  of  the  bloody  struggle  is  always  present. 
Their  honor  also  is  in  our  keeping.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  at 
last  in  our  State  a  shaft  is  being  lifted  to  the  honor  of  the  Indiana 
soldier.  It  will  not  only  keep  alive  a  worthy  memory,  but  it  will 
instil  patriotism  into  our  children.  I  thank  you  for  this  friendly 
visit.  [Cheers.  ] 

From  Illinois  came  two  large  delegations — that  from 
Iroquois  County  numbering  1,000,  commanded  by  Chief 
Marshal  Slattery,  of  Onargo.  A  Tippecanoe  club  of  vet- 
erans headed  their  column,  led  by  Chairman  Owen, 
followed  by  the  John  A.  Logan  Club,  commanded  by  Capt. 
A.  L.  Whitehall.  Prominent  in  the  delegation  were  State 
Senator  Secrist,  Judge  S.  G.  Bovie,  B.  F.  Price,  J.  F.  Ire- 
land, A.  Powell,  James  Woodworth,  G.  B.  Joiner,  W.  M. 
Coney,  Dr.  J.  H.  Gillam,  Dr.  Scull,  editors  E.  A.  ]STye  and 
M.  S.  Taliaferro,  of  Watseka;  also  W.  H.  Howe,  of  Braid- 
wood,  father  of  the  "  Drummer  Boy  of  Vicksburg. "  Robert 
Meredith,  of  Onargo,  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  colored  mem- 
bers or  the  delegation,  and  Capt.  R.  W.  Hilscher,  of  Wat- 
seka, for  the  veterans.  La  Porte  County,  Ind.,  was  repre- 
sented by  a  large  delegation,  the  Michigan  City  detach- 
ment commanded  by  Major  Biddle,  Uriah  Culbert,  and 


132  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Major  Wood.  The  Laporte  City  clubs  were  led  by  Wm.  C. 
Weir,  Marshal  of  the  delegation.  Other  prominent  mem- 
bers were  S.  M.  Closser,  W.  C.  Miller,  Frank  E.  Osborn, 
J.  N.  Whitehead,  M.  L.  Bramhall,  Nelson  Larzen,  Sam- 
uel Bagley,  Brook  Travis,  Wm.  Hastings,  S.  A.  Rose, 
Swan  Peterson,  and  editor  Sonneborn.  The  presentation 
address  was  made  by  Col.  J.  W.  Crtimpacker,  of 
Laporte. 

To  these  several  addresses  General  Harrison  responded : 

My  Illinois  and  my  Indiana  Friends — If  I  needed  any  stimulus 
to  duty,  or  to  have  my  impression  of  the  dignity  and  responsibility 
of  representative  office  increased,  I  should  find  it  in  such  assemblies 
as  these  and  in  the  kind  and  thoughtful  words  which  have  been 
addressed  to  me  in  your  behalf.  The  American  people  under  our 
system  of  government  have  their  public  interests  in  their  own  keep- 
ing. All  laws  and  proclamations  may  be  revoked  or  repealed  by 
them.  They  will  be  called  on  in  November  to  mark  out  the  revenue 
policy  for  our  Government  by  choosing  public  officers  pledged  to  the 
principles  which  a  majority  of  our  people  approve.  Fortunately  you 
have  now  an  issue  very  clearly  drawn  and  very  easy  to  be  under- 
stood. In  previous  campaigns  we  have  not  quite  known  where  our 
adversaries  stood.  Now  we  do  know.  Our  Democratic  friends 
say  a  protective  tariff  is  robbery.  You  see  this  written  at  the 
head  of  campaign  tracts  circulated  by  their  committees.  You 
hear  it  said  in  the  public  speeches  of  their  leaders.  You  have 
not  once,  I  think,  in  the  campaign  heard  any  Democratic  speaker 
admit  that  even  a  low  protective  tariff  was  desirable.  Those 
who,  like  Mr.  Randall,  have  in  former  campaigns  been  used  to 
allay  the  apprehension  of  our  working  people  by  talking  pro- 
tection have  been  silenced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Republican 
party  declares  by  its  platform  and  by  its  speakers  that  a  pro- 
tective tariff  is  wise  and  necessary.  There  is  the  issue.  Make 
your  own  choice.  If  you  approve  by  your  votes  the  doctrine  that 
a  protective  tariff  is  public  robbery,  you  will  expect  your  rep- 
resentatives to  stop  this  public  robbery,  and  if  they  are  faithful 
they  will  do  it ;  not  seven  per  cent,  of  it,  but  all  of  it.  [Applause 
and  cries  of  "That's  it!"]  So  that  I  beg  you  all  to  recollect  that 
you  will  vote  this  fall  for  or  against  the  principle  of  protection. 
You  are  invited  to  a  feast  of  cheapness.  You  are  promised  foreign- 
made  goods  at  very  low  prices,  and  domestic  competing  goods,  if 
any  are  made,  at  the  same  low  rates.  But  do  not  forget  that  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  133 

spectre  of  low  wages  will  also  attend  the  feast.  [Applause  and 
cries  of  "That's  so!"]  Inevitably,  as  certain  as  the  night  follows 
the  day,  the  adoption  of  this  policy  means  lower  wages.  Choose, 
then,  and  do  not  forget  that  this  cheapening  process  may  be  pushed 
so  far  as  to  involve  the  cheapening  of  human  life  and  the  loss  of 
human  happiness.  [Applause.] 

And  now  a  word  about  the  surplus  in  the  Treasury.  Our  Demo- 
cratic friends  did  not  know  what  else  to  do  with  it,  and  so  they 
have  deposited  it  in  certain  national  banks.  The  Government  gets 
no  interest  upon  it,  but  it  is  loaned  out  by  the  banks  to  our  citi- 
zens at  interest.  Our  income  is  more  than  our  current  expenses. 
There  is  no  authority  for  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  lend  the 
money,  and  so  only  three  methods  of  dealing  with  it  presented 
themselves,  under  the  law — first,  to  lock  it  up  in  the  Treasury 
vaults  ;  second,  to  deposit  it  in  the  banks  without  interest ;  or,  third, 
to  use  it  in  the  purchase  of  bonds  not  yet  due.  The  objection  to 
the  first  method  was  that  the  withdrawal  of  so  large  a  sum  might 
result  in  a  monetary  stringency  ;  the  second  obviated  this  objec- 
tion by  allowing  the  banks  to  put  the  money  in  circulation  ;  but 
neither  method  resulted  in  any  advantage  to  the  Government. 

As  to  it  the  money  was  dead  ;  only  the  banks  received  interest 
for  its  use.  By  the  third  method  the  money  would  be  returned  to 
the  channels  of  trade  and  the  Government  would  make 'the  differ- 
ence between  the  premium  paid  for  the  bond  and  the  interest  that 
the  bonds  would  draw  if  left  outstanding  until  they  matured.  If 
a  Government  bond  at  the  market  premium  is  a  good  investment 
for  a  capitalist  who  is  free  to  use  his  money  as  he  pleases,  can  it 
be  bad  finance  for  the  Government,  having  money  that  it  cannot 
use  in  any  other  way,  to  use  it  in  buying  up  its  bonds?  [Great 
applause.  ]  It  is  not  whether  we  will  purposely  raise  money  to 
buy  our  bonds  at  a  premium — no  one  would  advise  that — but  will 
we  so  use  a  surplus  that  we  have  on  hand  and  cannot  lawfully  pay 
out  in  any  other  way  ?  Do  our  Democratic  friends  propose  to  give 
the  banks  the  free  use  of  it  until  our  bonds  mature,  or  do  they  propose 
to  reduce  our  annual  income  below  our  expenditure  by  a  revision 
of  the  tariff  until  this  surplus  is  used,  and  then  revise  the  tariff 
again  to  restore  the  equilibriums?  [Great  applause.]  I  welcome 
the  presence  to-day  of  these  ladies  of  your  households.  We  should 
not  forget  that  we  have  work  ing- women  in  America.  [Applause 
and  cries  of  "  Good  !  good  !"]  None  more  than  they  are  interested 
in  this  policy  of  protection  which  we  advocate.  If  want  and  hard 
conditions  come  into  the  home,  the  women  bear  a  full  share. 
[Applause.  ]  And  now  I  have  been  tempted  to  speak  more  at  length 


134  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

than   I  had  intended.     I  thank  you  for  this  cordial   manifestation 
of  your  confidence  and  respect.      [Cheers.] 

The  fourth  delegation  of  the  day  came  from  Grundy 
County,  Illinois,  headed  by  the  Logan  Club  of  Morris. 
An  enthusiastic  member  of  this  delegation  was  the  vener- 
able Geo.  P.  Augustine,  of  Braceville,  111.,  aged  77,  who  in 
the  summer  of  1840  employed  the  boy  "  Jimmie"  Garfield — 
afterward  President  of  the  United  States — to  ride  his 
horses  on  the  tow-path  of  the  Ohio  canal  between  Ports- 
mouth and  Cleveland.  Hon.  P.  C.  Hayes,  of  Morris,  was 
spokesman  for  the  delegation.  General  Harrison  said : 

General  Hayes  and  my  Illinois  Friends — I  regret  that  your  arrival 
was  postponed  so  long  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  you  to  meet 
with  the  other  friends  from  your  State  who,  a  little  while  ago, 
assembled  about  the  platform.  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  feelings 
that  prompted  you  to  come,  and  for  the  generous  things  General 
Hayes  has  said  in  your  behalf.  There  is  little  that  I  can  say  and 
little  that  I  can  appropriately  do  to  promote  the  success  of  the  Re- 
publican principles.  A  campaign  that  enlists  the  earnest  and  active 
co-operatibn  of  the  individual  voters  will  have  a  safe  issue.  I  am 
glad  to  see  in  your  presence  an  evidence  that  in  your  locality  this 
individual  interest  is  felt.  [Applause.]  But  popular  assemblies, 
public  debate,  and  conventions  are  all  an  empty  mockery  unless, 
when  the  debate  is  closed,  the  election  is  so  conducted  that  every 
elector  shall  have  an  equal  and  full  influence  in  determining  the 
result.  That  is  our  compact  of  government.  [Cheers.  ]  I  thank 
you  again  for  your  great  kindness,  and  it  will  now  give  me  pleasure 
to  accede  to  the  suggestion  of  General  Hayes  and  take  each  of  you 
by  the  hand. 

The  fifth  and  last  delegation  of  the  day  reached  the 
Harrison  residence  in  the  evening,  and  comprised  200 
survivors  of  the  Second  and  Ninth  Indiana  Cavalry 
and  the  Twenty-sixth  Indiana  Infantry.  Col.  John  A. 
Bridgland,  the  old  commander  ot  the  Second  Cavalry, 
spoke  on  behalf  of  the  veterans.  General  Harrison  re- 
plied : 

Colonel  Bridgland  and  Comrades — I  am  fast  losing  my  faith  in 
men.  [Laughter.]  This  morning  a  representative  or  two  of  this 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  135 

regiment  called  upon  me  and  made  an  arrangement  that  I  should 
receive  you  at  this  hour.  It  was  expressly  stipulated — though  I 
took  no  security  [laughter] — that  there  should  be  no  speech-making 
at  all.  Now  I  find  myself  formally  introduced  to  you  and  under 
the  necessity  of  talking  to  you.  [Laughter.  ]  I  am  under  so  much 
stress  in  this  way,  from  day  to  day,  that  I  am  really  getting  to  be 
a  little  timid  when  I  see  a  corporal's  guard  together  anywhere,  for 
fear  they  will  want  a  speech.  [Laughter.]  And  even  at  home, 
when  I  sit  down  at  the  table  with  my  family,  I  have  some  appre- 
hensions lest  some  one  may  propose  a  toast  and  insist  that  I  shall 
respond.  [Laughter.  ] 

I  remember  that  the  Second  Indiana  Cavalry  was  the  first  full 
cavalry  regiment  I  ever  saw.  I  saw  it  marching  through  Washing- 
ton Street  from  the  windows  of  my  law  office ;  and  as  I  watched 
the  long  line  drawing  itself  through  the  street,  it  seemed  to  me 
the  call  for  troops  might  stop ;  that  there  were  certainly  enough 
men  and  horses  there  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  [Laughter.] 
It  is  clear  I  did  not  rightly  measure  the  capacities  of  a  cavalry 
regiment,  or  the  dimensions  of  the  rebellion.  [Laughter.]  lam 
glad  to  see  you  here  to-day.  You  come  as  soldiers,  and  I  greet 
you  as  comrades.  I  will  not  allude  to  political  topics,  on  which 
any  of  us  might  differ.  [A  voice,  "There  ain't  any  differ- 
ences !"]  Of  course,  the  members  of  the  Ninth  Cavalry  and  the 
Twenty -sixth  Infantry  must  understand  I  am  speaking  to- all  my 
comrades.  [A  voice,  "The  Twenty-sixth  were  waiting  for  the 
cavalry  to  get  out  of  the  way  !  "  Laughter.  ]  Well,  during  the 
war  you  were  willing  to  wait,  weren't  you?  [Hearty  laughter.] 
I  was  going  to  say  that  I  had  an  express  promise  from  Mr.  Adams, 
of  the  Twenty-sixth  Indiana,  there  should  be  no  speaking  on  the 
occasion  of  your  visit.  [Laughter.  ]  Perhaps  his  comrades  of  the 
Twenty  sixth  will  say  I  had  not  sufficient  reason  for  so  thinking, 
as  we  all  know  that  he  is  given  to  joking.  [Laughter.]  I  will  be 
pleased  now  to  meet  each  of  you  personally. 


130  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  20. 

ON  September  20  a  distinguished  delegation  arrived  from 
Cincinnati,  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  General  and  Mrs. 
Harrison  to  attend  the  Cincinnati  Exposition.  The  com- 
mittee, representing  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the 
Exposition,  was  headed  by  Chairman  Goodale  and  Presi- 
dent Allison  and  wife,  accompanied  by  Mayor  Amor  Smith 
and  wife,  Comptroller  E.  P.  Eshelby  and  wife,  Hon.  John 
B.  Peaslee,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Devereaux,  C.  H.  Rockwell  and 
wife,  and  others. 

In  the  evening  300  gentlemen,  exhibiting  implements 
and  agricultural  machinery  at  the  State  Fair — then  in 
progress — called  on  General  Harrison.  John  C.  Wingate, 
of  Montgomery  County,  was  their  spokesman. 

Responding  to  their  greeting  the  General  said : 

My  Friends — When  I  was  asked  yesterday  whether  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  me  to  see  about  one  hundred  gentlemen  who  were  here 
in  attendance  upon  the  Indiana  State  Fair  and  connected  with  the 
exhibit  of  machinery,  I  was  assured  their  call  would  be  of  the  most 
informal  character — that  they  would  simply  visit  me  at  my  home 
and  spend  a  few  moments  socially.  [Laughter.]  Until  I  heard 
the  music  of  your  band  and  saw  the  torchlights,  that  was  my  un- 
derstanding of  what  was  in  store  for  me  this  evening.  I  am  again 
the  victim  of  a  misunderstanding.  [Laughter  and  applause.] 
Still,  though  my  one  hundred  guests  have  been  multiplied  several 
times,  and  though  I  find  myself  compelled  to  speak  to  you  en  masse 
rather  than  individually,  I  am  glad  to  see  you.  I  thank  you  for 
your  visit,  and  for  the  cordial  terms  in  wrhich  you  have  addressed 
me.  What  your  speaker  has  said  as  to  tlje  favorable  condition  of 
our  working  people  is  true ;  and  we  are  fortunate  in  the  fact  that 
we  do  not  need  to  depend  for  our  evidence  on  statistics  or  the  re- 
ports of  those  who  casually  visit  the  countries  of  the  Old  World. 
There  is  probably  not  a  shop  represented  here  that  has  not  among 
its  workingmen  those  who  have  tried  the  conditions  of  life  in  the 
old  country,  and  are  able  to  speak  from  personal  experience.  It 
cannot  be  doubted  that  our  American  system  of  levying  discrim 
inating  duties  upon  competing  foreign  products  has  much  to  do 
with  the  better  condition  of  our  working  people.  I  welcome  you 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES  137 

as  representatives  of  one  of  the  great  industries  of  our  country. 
The  demands  of  the  farm  have  been  met  by  the  ingenuity  of  your 
shops.  The  improvement  in  farm  machinery  within  my  own  recol- 
lection has  been  marvellous.  The  scythe  and  the  cradle  still  held 
control  in  the  harvest  field  when  I  first  went  out  to  carry  the  noon 
meal  to  the  workmen.  Afterward  it  sometimes  fell  to  my  lot 
in  the  hay-field  to  drive  one  of  the  old-fashioned  combination  reap- 
ers and  mowers.  It  was  a  great  advance  over  the  scythe  and 
cradle,  and  yet  it  was  heavy  and  clumsy — a  very  horse-killer. 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  When  the  drivers  struck  a  stump 
the  horse  had  no  power  over  the  machine  in  either  direct  ion.  Now 
these  machines  have  been  so  lightened  and  improved  that  they  are 
the  perfection  of  mechanism.  Your  inventive  genius  has  responded 
to  the  necessities  of  the  farm  until  that  which  was  drudgery  has 
become  light  and  easy.  I  thank  you  again  for  your  call,  and  will 
be  glad  to  meet  personally  those  strangers  who  are  here.  [Ap- 
plause. ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  21. 

RANDOLPH  and  Jay  counties,  Indiana,  contributed  3,000 
visitors  on  September  21.  At  the  head  of  the  Randolph 
column  marched  200  members  of  the  "  Old  Men's  Tippe- 
canoe  Club,"  of  Winchester,  led  by  Marshals  J.  B.  Ross, 
A.  J.  Stakebake,  and  Auditor  Cranor.  Other  leaders  in 
the  delegation  were  Mayor  F.  H.  Bowen,  Hon.  Theo.  Shock- 
ley,  Geo.  Patchell,  W.  S.  Ensign,  Frank  Parker,  Samuel 
Bell,  Dr.  G.  Rynard,  and  Washington  Smith,  of  Union 
City;  J.  W.  Macy,  J.  S.  Engle,  Reverdy  Puckett,  A.  C. 
Beeson,  and  John  E.  Markle,  of  Winchester. 

The  Jay  County  contingent  was  led  by  James  A.  Rus- 
sell, B.  D.  Halfhill,  Isaac  McKinney,  J.  W.  Williams,  Eli 
Clark,  J.  C.  Andrews,  T.  J.  Cartwright,  and  Albert  Mar- 
tin. L.  C.  Hauseman  was  spokesman  for  the  Hoosiers. 
Gen.  Stone,  of  Randolph,  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  veterans. 

From  Dayton,  Ohio,  came  500  visitors,  including  60 
veterans  of  the  campaign  of  '40,  led  by  Secretary  Edgar. 
Marshal  James  Applegate,  Mr.  Eckley,  Dr.  J.  A.  Ronspert, 
and  W.  R.  Knaub  were  other  leaders  of  the  Ohio  contin- 


138  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

gent.  Col.  John  G.  Lowe  was  their  speaker,  and  referred 
to  the  fact  that  Gen.  Harrison  "  had  won.  his  education 
and  Miss  Caroline  M.  Scott,  now  his  estimable  wife,  when 
a  resident  of  Ohio." 

To  these  addresses  the  General,  responding,  said : 

My  Ohio  and  Indiana  Friends — The  magnitude  and  the  cordiality 
of  this  demonstration  are  very  gratifying.  That  these  representa- 
tives of  the  State  of  my  nativity,  and  these,  my  neighbors  in  this 
State  of  my  early  adoption,  should  unite  this  morning  in  giving 
this  evidence  of  their  respect  and  confidence  is  especially  pleasing. 
I  do  remember  Ohio,  the  State  of  my  birth  and  of  my  boyhood, 
with  affection  and  veneration.  I  take  pride  in  her  great  history, 
the  illustrious  men  she  furnished  to  lead  our  armies,  and  the  army 
of  her  brave  boys  who  bore  the  knapsack  and  the  gun  for  the  Union. 
I  take  pride  in  her  pure  and  illustrious  statesmen.  Ohio  was  the 
first  of  the  Northwestern  States  to  receive  the  western  emigration 
after  the  Revolutionary  War.  When  that  tide  of  patriotism  which 
had  borne  our  country  to  freedom  and  had  established  our  Constitu- 
tion threw  upon  the  West  many  of  the  patriots  whose  fortunes  had 
been  maimed  or  broken  by  their  sacrifices  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  this  pure  stream,  pouring  over  the  Alleghanies,  found  its 
first  basin  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  [Cries  of  "Good  !  Good  !"] 

The  waters  of  patriotism  that  had  been  distilled  in  the  fires  of  the 
Revolution  fertilized  her  virgin  fields.  [Applause.  ]  I  do  not  for- 
get, however,  that  my  manhood  has  all  been  spent  in  Indiana — that 
all  the  struggle  which  is  behind  me  in  life  has  this  for  its  field. 
[Cheers.] 

I  brought  to  this  hospitable  State  only  that  to  which  Col.  Lowe 
has  alluded — an  education  and  a  good  wife.  [Great  cheering.] 
Whatever  else  I  have,  whatever  else  I  have  accomplished,  for  myself 
and  for  my  family  or  the  public,  has  been  under  the  favoring  and 
friendly  auspices  of  these,  my  fellow-citizens  of  Indiana,  [Ap- 
plause.] To  them  I  owe  more  than  I  can  repay.  My  Indiana 
friends,  you  come  from  a  county  largely  devoted  to  agriculture. 
The  invitation  of  Nature  was  so  generous  that  your  people  have 
generally  accepted  it.  Guarded  as  your  early  settlers  were,  and  as 
those  of  Ohio  were,  by  that  sword  of  liberty  which  was  placed  at 
your  gates  by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  stimulated,  as  you  have  been, 
by  the  suggestions  of  that  great  ordinance  in  favor  of  morality  and 
education,  you  have,  in  your  rural  homes,  one  of  the  best  commu- 
nities in  the  world.  [Applause.  ]  You  do  not  forget,  farmers  though 
you  are,  that  95  per  cent,  of  the  product  of  your  farms  is  consumed 


HARBISON'S  SPEECHES.  139 

at  home,  and  you  are  too  wise  to  put  that  in  peril  in  a  greedy 
search  after  foreign  trade.  [Great  applause.]  You  will  not  sacri- 
fice these  great  industries  that  have  created  in  our  country  a  con- 
suming class  for  your  products.  [Cheers.]  I  do  not  think  that 
there  is  any  doubt  what  tariff  policy  England  would  wish  us  to 
adopt,  and  yet  some  say  that  England  is  trembling  lest  we  should 
adopt  free  trade  here  [laughter] ,  and  so  rob  her  of  other  markets 
that  she  now  enjoys.  [Laughter.  ]  The  story  of  our  colonial  days, 
when  England,  with  selfish  and  insatiate  avarice,  laid  her  repres- 
sive hand  upon  our  infant  manufactories  and  attempted  to  suppress 
them  all,  furnishes  the  first  object-lesson  she  ga.ve  us.  Another 
was  given  when  the  life  of  this  Nation — the  child  of  England,  as 
she  has  been  wont  to  call  us,  speaking  the  mother  tongue,  having 
many  institutions  inherited  from  her — was  imperilled.  The  offer 
of  free  trade  by  the  Confederacy  so  touched  the  commercial  greed 
of  England  that  she  forgot  the  ties  of  blood  and  went  to  the  verge 
of  war  wTith  us  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  rebel  Government. 
[Cheers.]  But  what  England  wants,  or  what  any  other  country 
wants,  is  not  very  important — certainly  not  conclusive.  [Cheers.  ] 
What  is  best  for  us  and  our  people  should  be  the  decisive  ques- 
tion. [Cheers,]  My  Randolph  County  friends,  there  are  State 
questions  that  must  take  a  strong  hold  upon  the  minds  of  people 
like  yours.  The  proposition  to  lift  entirely  out  of  the  range  and 
control  of  partisan  politics  the  great  benevolent  institutions  of  the 
State  is  one  that  must  commend  itself  to  all  your  people.  [Cheers.] 
If  all  those  friends  who  sympathize  with  us  upon  this  question  had 
acted  with  us  in  1886  wTe  should  then  have  accomplished  this  great 
reform.  [Applause.]  And  now,  to  these  old  gentlemen  whose 
judgment  and  large  experience  in  life  gives  added  value  to  their 
kind  words  ;  to  these  young  friends  who,  for  the  first  time,  take  a 
freeman's  place  in  the  line  of  battle  to  do  duty  for  the  right,  I  give 
my  kindly  greetings  and  best  wishes  in  return  for  theirs.  [Cheers.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER 

ON  the  afternoon  of  September  22  General  Harrison  was 
visited  by  600  Chicago  "drummers,"  organized  as  the  Re- 
publican Commercial  Travellers'  Association  of  Chicago 
and  accompanied  by  the  celebrated  Second  Regiment  Band. 
They  were  escorted  to  the  Harrison  residence  by  the  Co- 
lumbia Club  and  200  members  of  the  Republican  Commer- 


140  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

cial  Travellers'  Escort  Club  of  Indianapolis,  George  C. 
Webster,  President ;  Ernest  Morris,  Secretary. 

The  entire  business  community  turned  out  to  greet  the 
visitors  as  they  marched  through  the  city,   performing 
difficult  evolutions,  under  the  command  of  Chief  Marshal 
Vandever  and  his  aids — C.  S.  Felton,  P.  H.  Brockway,  B. 
F.  Horton,  Joseph  Pomroy,  W.  H.  Haskell,  Geo.  W.  Bris- 
tol, A.   C.  Boyd,  Geo.   H.  Green,    and   Secretary   H.  A. 
Morgan. 

General  Harrison's  appearance  was  signalized  by  a  re- 
markable demonstration.  Col.  H.  H.  Kude  delivered  the 
address  on  behalf  of  his  associates. 

In  response  General  Harrison  made  one  of  his  best 
speeches.  He  said: 

Sir,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Republican  Commercial  Travellers'  As- 
sociation of  Chicago — I  bid  you  welcome  to  my  home.  I  give  you 
my  most  ardent  thanks  for  this  cordial  evidence  of  your  interest  in 
those  great  principles  of  government  which  are  advocated  by  the 
Republican  party,  whose  candidate  I  am.  I  am  not  unfamiliar 
with  the  value,  efficency,  and  intelligence  of  the  commercial  trav- 
ellers of  our  country.  [Cheers.  1  The  contribution  you  make  to 
the  success  of  the  business  communities  with  which  you  are  iden- 
tified is  large  and  indispensable.  I  do  not  doubt  that  one  of  the 
strongest  props  of  Chicago's  commercial  greatness  wT>uld  be  de- 
stroyed if  you  were  withdrawn  from  the  commercial  forces  of  that 
great  city.  [Cheers.]  The  growth  and  development  of  Chicago 
has  been  one  of  the  most  marvellous  incidents  in  the  story  of  Amer- 
ican progress.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  your  interest  is  en- 
listed in  this  political  campaign.  It  is  very  creditable  to  you  that 
in  the  rush  of  the  busy  industries  and  pushing  trade  of  your  city 
you  have  not  forgotten  that  you  are  American  citizens  and  that  you 
owe  service,  not  to  commerce  only,  but  to  your  country.  [Great 
cheering.]  It  is  gratifying  to  be  assured  that  you  propose  to  bring 
your  influence  into  the  great  civil  contest  which  is  now  engaging 
the  interest  of  our  people.  The  intelligence  and  energy  which  you 
give  to  your  commercial  pursuits  will  be  a  most  valuable  contribu- 
tion to  our  cause.  [Cheers.  ]  The  power  of  such  a  body  of  men  is 
very  great. 

I  want  now  to  introduce  to  you  for  a  moment  another  speaker — 
an  Englishman.  Within  the  last  year  I  have  been  reading,  wholly 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  141 

without  any  view  to  politics,  the  story  of  our  diplomatic  relations 
with  England  during  the  Civil  War.  The  motive  that  most  strongly 
influenced  the  English  mind  in  its  sympathy  with  the  South  was  the 
expectancy  of  free  trade  with  the  Confederacy  [cries  of  "That's 
right!"],  and  among  the  most  influential  publications  intended  to 
urge  English  recognition  and  aid  to  the  Confederates  was  a  book 
entitled  "The  American  Union,"  by  James  Spence.  It  was  pub- 
lished in  1862,  and  ran  through  several  editions.  Speaking  of  the 
South  he  said : 

"No  part  of  the  world  can  be  found  more  admirably  placed  for 
exchanging  with  this  country  the  products  of  industry  to  mutual 
advantage  than  the  Southern  States  of  the  Union.  Producing  in 
abundance  the  material  we  chiefly  require,  their  climate  and  the 
habits  of  the  people  indispose  them  to  manufactures,  and  leave  to 
be  purchased  precisely  the  commodities  we  have  to  sell.  They 
have  neither  the  means  nor  the  desire  to  enter  into  rivalry  with  us. 
Commercially  they  offer  more  than  the  capabilities  of  another  India 
within  a  fortnight's  distance  from  our  shores.  The  capacity  of  a 
Southern  trade  when  free  from  restrictions  may  be  estimated  most 
correctly  by  comparison.  The  condition  of  those  States  resembles 
that  of  Australia,  both  non- manufacturing  countries,  with  the  com- 
mand of  ample  productions  to  offer  in  exchange  for  the  imports 
they  require." 

The  author  proceeds  to  show  that  at  the  time  England's  exports  to 
our  country  were  only  thirteen  shillings  per  capita  of  our  popula- 
tion, while  the  exports  to  Australia  were  ten  pounds  sterling  per 
capita.  Let  me  now  read  you  what  is  said  of  the  Northern  States : 

"The  people  of  the  North,  whether  manufacturers  or  ship-own- 
ers, regard  us  as  rivals  and  competitors,  to  be  held  back  and 
cramped  by  all  possible  means.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "  That's  it !"] 
They  possess  the  same  elements  as  ourselves — coal,  metals,  ships, 
an  aptitude  for  machinery,  energy  and  industry — while  the  early 
obstacles  of  deficient  capital  and  scanty  labor  are  rapidly  disappear- 
ing. [Applause  and  a  voice,  "  Exactly  !"] 

"  For  many  years  they  have  competed  with  us  in  some  manufact- 
ures in  foreign  markets,  and  their  peculiar  skill  in  the  contriv- 
ance of  labor-saving  machinery  daily  increases  the  number  of  ar- 
ticles they  produce  cheaper  than  ourselves.  [Loud  cheering  and  a 
voice,  "We'll  knock  them  out  again  !"] 

"  Thus,  to  one  part  of  the  world  our  exports  are  at  the  rate  of  ten 
pounds  sterling  per  head,  while  those  to  the  Union  amount  to  but 
thirteen  shillings  per  head. " 

I  have  read  these  extracts  because  they  seemed  to  me  very  sugges- 
tive and  very  instructive.  The  South  offered  free  trade  to  Europe 
in  exchange  for  an  expected  recognition  of  their  independence  by 
England  and  France.  [Cries  of  "You  are  right!"]  The  offer  was 
very  attractive  and  persuasive  to  the  ruling  classes  of  England. 
They  took  Confederate  bonds  and  sent  out  armed  cruisers  to  prey 


142  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

upon  our  commerce.  They  dallied  with  Southern  agents,  fed  them 
with  delusive  hopes,  and  thus  encouraged  the  South  to  protract  a 
hopeless  struggle.  They  walked  to  the  very  edge  of  open  war  with 
the  United  States,  forgetful  of  all  the  friendly  ties  that  had  bound 
us  as  nations,  and  all  this  to  satisfy  a  commercial  greed.  We  may 
learn  from  this  how  high  a  price  England  then  set  upon  free  trade 
with  a  part  only  of  the  States.  [A  voice,  "We  remember  it !"] 

But  now  the  Union  has  been  saved  and  restored.  Men  of  both 
armies  and  of  all  the  States  rejoice  that  England's  hope  of  a  com- 
mercial dependency  on  our  Southern  coast  was  disappointed.  The 
South  is  under  no  stress  to  purchase  foreign  help  by  trade  conces- 
sions. She  will  now  open  her  hospitable  doors  to  manufacturing, 
capital,  and  skilled  labor. 

It  is  not  now  true  that  either  climate  or  the  habits  of  her  people 
indispose  them  to  manufactures.  Of  the  Virginias,  North  Caro- 
lina, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Missouri,  it  may  be  now 
said,  as  Mr.  Spence  said  of  the  more  northern  States .  "They  possess 
the  same  elements  as  ourselves  [England] — coal,  metals,  ships,  an 
aptitude  for  machinery,  energy,  and  industry — while  the  early  obsta- 
cles of  deficient  capital  and  scanty  labor  are  rapidly  disappearing. " 
And  I  am  sure  there  is  a  "New  South  " — shackled  as  it  is  by  tradi- 
tions and  prejudices — that  is  girding  itself  to  take  part  in  great  in- 
dustrial rivalry  with  England,  which  Mr.  Spence  so  much  depre- 
cates. These  great  States  will  no  longer  allow  either  Old  England 
or  New  England  to  spin  and  weave  their  cotton,  but  will  build 
mills  in  the  very  fields  where  the  great  staple  is  gathered.  [Ap- 
plause.] They  will  no  longer  leave  Pennsylvania  without  an  ac- 
tive rival  in  the  production  of  iron.  They  surely  will  not,  if  they 
are  at  all  mindful  of  their  great  need  and  their  great  opportunity, 
unite  in  this  crusade  against  our  protected  industries. 

Our  interests  no  longer  run  upon  sectional  lines,  and  it  cannot 
be  good  for  any  part  of  our  country  that  Mr.  Spence's  vision  of 
English  trade  with  us  should  be  realized.  [Cries  of  "Never!  Nev- 
er!"] Commerce  between  the  States  is  working  mightily,  if 
silently,  to  efface  all  lingering  estrangements  between  our  people, 
and  the  appeal  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  American  system  of  pro- 
tection will,  I  am  sure,  soon  find  an  answering  response  among  the 
people  of  all  the  States.  [Loud  cheering.  ] 

I  thank  you  again  for  this  beautiful  and  cordial  demonstration, 
and  will  now  be  glad  to  meet  you  personally. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  143 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER    25. 

THE  third  delegation  from  Wabash  County  during  the 
campaign  arrived  on  September  25,  a  thousand  strong, 
headed  by  Hon.  Jesse  Arnold,  Col.  Homan  Depew,  Thomas 
Black,  W.  D.  Caldwell,  Obed  Way,  Thomas  McNamee, 
Rob' t  Thompson,  Wm.  Alexander,  Robert  Wilson,  Andrew 
Egnew,  C.  S.  Haas,  W.  W.  Stewart,  W.  H.  Bent,  Robert 
Stewart,  and  W.  D.  Gachenour.  Their  spokesman  was 
Capt.  B.  F.  Williams.  Parke  County,  Indiana,  contributed 
a  large  delegation  the  same  day,  under  the  lead  of  John 
W.  Stryker,  Jacob  Church,  John  R.  Johnson,  A.  O.  Ben- 
son, W.  W.  McCune,  Joseph  H.  Jordan,  and  A.  A.  Har- 
grave,  of  Rockville,  and  300  school  children,  in  charge  of 
A.  R.  McMurty.  Dr.  T.  F.  Leech  was  orator  for  the  Parke 
visitors. 

General  Harrison  spoke  as  follows : 

My  WabasU  County  Friends  and  my  Little  Friends  from  Parke — 
I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you  here  to-day.  My  friend  who  has  spoken 
for  Wabash  County  has  very  truly  said  that  the  relations  between 
me  and  the  Republicans  of  that  county  have  always  been  exceed- 
ingly cordial.  I  remember  well  when  I  first  visited  your  county 
in  1860,  almost  a  boy  in  years,  altogether  a  boy  in  political  experi- 
ence. I  was  then  a  candidate  for  Reporter  of  the  Decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  this  State.  You  had  in  one  of  your  own  citi- 
zens, afterward  a  distinguished  soldier,  a  candidate  for  that  office 
in  the  convention  that  nominated  me,  but  that  did  not  interfere 
at  all  with  the  cordial  welcome  from  your  people  when,  as  th" 
nominee  of  the  party,  I  came  into  your  county.  I  think  from 
that  day  to  this  my  name  has  never  been  mentioned  in  any  conven- 
tion for  any  office  that  I  have  not  had  almost  the  unanimous  sup- 
port of  the  Republicans  of  Wabash  County.  [Applause.  ]  This  is 
no  new  interest  which  you  now  manifest  to-day..  The  expressions 
of  your  confidence  have  been  very  numerous  and  have  been  contin- 
ued through  nearly  thirty  years. 

There  is  one  word  on  one  subject  that  I  wrant  to  say.  Our  Demo- 
cratic friends  tell  us  that  there  are  about  a  hundred  millions — their 
arithmeticians  do  not  agree  on  the  exact  figures — in  the  public- 
Treasury  for  which  the  Government  has  no  need.  They  have  found 


144  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

only  this  method  of  using  it,  viz.  :  depositing  it  in  the  national 
banks  of  the  country,  to  be  loaned  out  by  them  to  our  citizens  at 
interest,  the  Government  getting  no  interest  whatever  from  the 
banks.  I  suggested,  and  it  was  not  an  original  suggestion  with 
me — Senator  Sherman  has  advocated  the  same  policy  with  great 
ability  in  the  Senate — that  this  money  had  better  be  used  in  buying 
Government  bonds,  because  the  Government  would  make  some 
money  in  applying  it  that  way,  and  there  was  no  other  way  in 
whicli  they  could  get  any  interest  on  it  at  all.  But  it  is  said  if 
we  use  it  in  this  manner  we  pay  a  premium  to  the  bondholders. 
But  it  is  only  the  same  premium  that  the  bonds  are  bringing  in  the 
market.  In  other  words,  as  I  said  the  other  day,  capitalists  who 
can  use  their  money  as  they  please — put  it  out  on  mortgages,  at  in- 
terest, or  in  any  other  way — think  the  Government  bond  at  the  cur- 
rent rate  of  premium  is  a  good  investment  for  them.  Now,  the 
Government  can  buy  those  bonds  at  that  premium  and  save  a  great 
deal  of  interest.  I  will  not  undertake  to  give  you  figures.  One 
issue  of  these  bonds  matures  in  1907,  and  bears  four  per  cent,  an- 
nual interest.  Now,  suppose  this  surplus  money  were  to  remain  all 
that  time  in  the  banks  without  bringing  any  interest  to  the  Gov- 
ernment :  is  there  a  man  here  so  dull  that  he  cannot  see  the  great  loss 
that  would  result  to  the  people?  I  have  another  objection  to  this 
policy  ;  the  favoritism  that  is  involved  in  it.  We  have  heard — and 
from  such  high  authority  that  I  think  that  we  must  accept  it  as 
true — that  the  great  patronage  appertaining  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  -United  States  involves  a  public  peril.  NOWT,  suppose  we 
add  to  that  danger  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars  that  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  can  put  in  this  community  or  that,  in  this  bank  or 
that,  at  his  pleasure ;  is  not  the  power  of  the  executive  perilously 
increased?  Is  it  right  that  the  use  of  this  vast  sum  should  be  a 
matter  of  mere  favoritism,  that  the  Secretary  should  be  allowed  to 
put  $10,000,000  of  this  surplus  in  Indianapolis  and  none  of  it  in 
Kansas  City,  or  $75,000,000  in  New  York  and  none  in  Indianapolis? 
If  the  money  is  used  in  buying  bonds  it  finds  its  natural  place — 
goes  where  it  belongs.  This  is  a  most  serious  objection  to  the  pres- 
ent method  of  dealing  with  the  surplus.  But  if  you  still  object  to 
paying  the  market  premium  when  we  buy  these  bonds,  see  now  it 
works  the  other  way.  The  banks  deposit  their  bonds  in  the  Treas- 
ury to  secure  these  deposits,  get  the  Government  money  without 
interest,  and  still  draw  interest  on  their  bonds.  If  any  of  you  had 
a  note  for  a  thousand  dollars  due  in  five  years,  bearing  interest, 
and  your  credit  was  so  good  that  the  note  was  worth  a  premium, 
and  you  had  twelve  hundred  dollars  that  you  could  not  put  out  at 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  145 

interest  so  as  to  offset  the  interest  on  your  note,  would  you  not 
make  money  by  using  this  surplus  to  take  up  the  note  at  a  fair 
premium?  Would  you  think  it  wise  finance  to  give  the  thousand 
dollars  that  you  had  on  hand  to  your  creditor  without  interest  and 
allow  him  to  deposit  your  note  with  you  as  security,  you  paying 
interest  on  the  note  until  it  was  due  and  getting  no  interest  on 
your  deposit?  [Laughter  and  applause.]. 

I  welcome  my  young  friends  from  Parke  County.  There  is  nothing 
fuller  of  interest  than  childhood.  There  is  so  much  promise  and 
hope  in  it.  Expectancy  makes  life  very  rosy  to  them  and  them 
very  interesting  to  us  who  have  passed  beyond  the  turn  of  life. 
[Applause.  ]  You  are  fortunate  in  these  kind  instructors,  who  from 
week  to  week  instil  into  your  minds  the  principles  of  religion  and 
of  morality  ;  but  do  not  forget  that  there  is  another  vine  of  beauty 
that  may  be  appropriately  twined  with  those — the  love  of  your 
country  and  her  institutions.  [Applause.]  I  thank  you  again  for 
this  cordial  evidence  of  your  regard.  The  skies  are  threatening, 
and  as  there  is  danger  that  our  meeting  may  be  interrupted  by  rain 
I  will  stop  here  in  order  that  I  may  meet  each  of  you  personally. 
[Cheers.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER    26. 

OHIO  and  Indiana  united  to-day  again,  through  their 
delegation's,  aggregating  4,000  citizens,  in  paying  their 
respects  to  General  Harrison.  The  Tippecanoe  Veteran 
Association  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  J.  E.  St.  Clair,  President, 
comprising  200  veterans,  whose  ages  averaged  70  years, 
was  escorted  by  the  Foraker  Club  of  Columbus,  led  by 
President  Reeves.  The  veterans  were  accompanied  by  the 
venerable  Judge  John  A.  Bingham,of  Cadiz,and  Gen.  Geo. 
B.  Wright,  of  Columbus,  both  of  whom  made  addresses. 
No  other  club  or  organziation,  during  the  entire  campaign, 
was  the  recipient  of  such  marked  attentions  as  the  Ohio 
veterans ;  the  youngest  among  them  was  68  years  of  age. 
Among  the  oldest  were  Win.  Armstrong,  aged  91 ;  Ansel 
Bristol,  80;  H.  H.  Chariton,  84;  Francis  A.  Crum,  82; 
Joseph  Davis,  84 ;  Henry  Edwards,  80 ;  John  Fields,  82 ; 
John  A.  Gill,  82;  J.  L.  Grover,  81;  J.  A.  S.  Harlow,  87; 


146  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Harris  Loomis,  84;  Dan'l  Melhousen,  80;  Sam!  McCle- 
land,  80;  Judge  John  Otstot,  86;  James  Park,  80;  Daniel 
Short,  83;  John  Saul,  86;  George  Snoffer,  85;  David  Tay- 
lor, 87 ;  Jacob  Taylor,  88 ;  J.  D.  Fuller,  82,  and  Luther 
Hillery,  aged  90,  who  knew  William  Henry  Harrison  be- 
fore his  first  nomination.  Prominent  in  the  Foraker  Club 
were  Dr.  A.  W.  Harden  and  D.  K.  Reif . 

The  Tipton  County,  Indiana,  visitation  was  under  the 
auspices  of  the  First  Voters'  Club  of  the  town  of  Tipton. 
A  large  club  of  Tippecanoe  campaign  veterans  headed 
their  column,  led  by  Chief  Marshal  J.  A.  Swoveland,  as- 
sisted by  M.  W.  Pershing,  James  Johns,  John  F.  Pyke, 
R.  J.  McCalion,  Isaac  Booth,  J.  Q.  Seright,  and  J.  Wol- 
verton.  Judge  Daniel  Waugh,  of  Tipton,  was  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  delegation. 

From  Elkhart  County,  Indiana,  came  a  notable  delega- 
tion of  a  thousand  business  men,  prominent  among  whom 
were  State  Senator  Davis,  Hon.  Geo.  W.  Burt,  Daniel  Zook, 
H.  J.  Beyerle,  E.  G.  Herr,  D.  W.  Neidig,  T.  H.  Dailey,  D. 
W.  Granger,  and  I.  W.  Nash,  of  Goshen;  and  James  H. 
State,  A.  C.  Manning,  J.  W.  Fieldhouse,  J.  G-  Schreiner, 
A.  P.  Kent,  J.  H.  Cainon,  Frank  Baker,  and  Jacob  Berkley, 
of  Elkhart  City.  Hon.  O.  Z.  Hubbell  was  spokesman  for 
the  delegation.  Judge  Bingham's  eloquent  address  was 
listened  to  with  marked  attention. 

General  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

Gentlemen,  my  Ohio  and  Indiana  Friends — Again  about  this  plat- 
form there  are  gathered  representatives  from  these  two  great  States. 
Your  coming  is  an  expression  of  a  common  interest,  a  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  citizenship  that  is  wider  than  the  lines 
of  any  State.  [Cheers.]  That  over  and  above  that  just  pride  in 
your  own  communities,  which  you  cherish  so  jealously,  there  is  a 
fuller  pride  in  the  one  flag,  to  which  we  all  give  our  allegiance,  and 
in  the  one  Constitution,  which  binds  the  people  of  these  States  to- 
gether indissolubly  in  a  Government  strong  enough  to  protect  its 
humblest  citizen  wherever  he  may  sojourn.  [Prolonged  cheers.] 
Your  State  institutions  are  bused,  like  those  of  the  Nation,  upon 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  147 

the  great  principles  of  human  liberty  and  equality,  and  are  con- 
secrated to  the  promotion  of  social  order  and  popular  education. 
But,  above  all  this,  resting  on  like  foundations,  is  the  strong 
arch  of  the  Union  that  binds  us  together  as  a  Nation.  You  are 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  as  such  have  common  interests 
that  suggest  this  meeting.  [Cheers.] 

I  cannot  speak  separately  to  the  various  organizations  represented 
here.  There  is  a  broad  sense  in  which  you  are  one.  But  I  cannot 
omit  to  pay  a  hearty  tribute  of  thanks  to  these  venerable  men  who 
are  gathered  about  me  to-day.  I  value  this  tribute  from  them 
more  than  words  can  tell.  I  cannot,  without  indelicacy,  speak 
much  of  that  campaign  to  which  they  brought  the  enthusiasm  of 
their  earlier  life  and  to  which  their  memories  now  turn  with  so 
much  interest.  If,  out  of  it,  they  have  brought  on  with  them  in 
life  to  this  moment  and  have  transferred  to  me  some  part  of  the 
respect  which  another  won  from  them,  then  I  will  find  in  their 
kindness  a  new  stimulus  to  duty.  [Applause  and  cries,  "We 
have  ;  we  have !"]  In  looking  over,  the  other  day,  a  publication  of 
the  campaign  of  18  iO,  I  fell  upon  a  card  signed  by  fifteen  Dem- 
ocrats of  Orange,  N.  J. ,  giving  their  reasons  for  leaving  the  Dem- 
ocratic party.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  interesting  to 
some  of  these  old  gentlemen.  [Cries  of  "We  want  to  hear  it!" 
and  "Read  it !"] 

It  was  as  follows  :  "  We  might  give  many  reasons  for  this  change 
in  our  political  opinions.  The  following,  however,  we  deem  suffi- 
cient :  We  do  not  believe  the  price  of  labor  in  this  free  country 
should  be  reduced  to  the  standard  prescribed  by  despots  in  foreign 
countries.  [Applause.  ]  We  do  not  believe  in  fighting  for  the  coun- 
try and  being  unrepresented  in  the  councils  of  the  country.  We 
do  not  believe  in  an  exclusive,  hard,  metallic  currency  any  more 
than  we  believe  in  hard  bread  or  no  bread  !  We  do  not  believe  it 
was  the  design  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  that  the  Presi- 
dent should  occupy  his  time  during  the  first  term  in  electioneering 
for  his  re-election  to  a  second  term  !"  [Loud  laughter  and  ap- 
pla  'se.]  I  have  read  this  simply  as  an  historical  curiosity  and  to 
refresh  your  recollections  as  to  some  of  the  issues  of  that  campaign. 
If  it  has  any  application  to  our  modern  politics  I  will  leave  you  to 
make  it.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  I  have  recently  been  talking, 
and  have  one  thing  further  to  say,  about  the  surplus. 

There  is  a  very  proper  use  I  think  that  can  be  made  of  more  than 
t\venty  millions  of  it.  During  the  Civil  War  our  customs  receipts 
and  our  receipts  from  internal  taxes,  which  last  had  brought  under 
tribute  almost  every  pursuit  in  life,  were  inadequate  to  the  great 


148  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

drain  upon  our  Treasury  caused  by  the  Civil  War.  Our  Congress, 
exercising  one  of  the  powers  of  the  Constitution,  levied  a  direct  tax 
upon  the  States.  Ohio  paid  her  part  of  it,  Indiana  paid  hers,  and 
so  did  the  other  loyal  States.  The  Southern  States  were  in  rebel- 
lion and  did  not  pay  theirs.  Now  we  have  come  to  a  time  when 
the  Government  has  surplus  money,  and  the  proposition  was  made 
in  Congress  to  return  this  tax  to  the  States  that  had  paid  it.  [Ap- 
plause.] The  State  of  Indiana  would  have  received  one  million 
dollars,  which  my  fellow-citizens  of  this  State  know  would  have 
been  a  great  relief  to  our  taxpayers  in  the  present  depleted  condi- 
tion of  our  treasury.  [Cheers.  ]  I  do  not  recall  the  exact  amount 
Ohio  would  have  received,  but  it  was  much  larger.  If  any  one 
asks,  Why  repay  this  tax?  this  illustration  wrill  be  a  sufficient  an- 
swer :  Suppose  five  men  are  associated  in  a  business  corporation. 
The  corporation  suffers  losses  and  its  capital  is  impaired.  An  as- 
sessment becomes  necessary,  and  three  members  pay  their  assess- 
ments while  two  do  not.  The  corporation  is  again  prosperous  and 
there  is  a  surplus  of  money  in  the  treasury.  What  shall  be  done 
with  it?  Manifestly,  justice  requires  that  the  two  delinquents 
should  pay  up  or  that  there  should  be  returned  to  the  other  three 
the  assessment  levied  upon  them.  [Great  cheering.]  A  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  repayment  of  the  tax  wras  killed  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  not  by  voting  it  down,  but  by  filibustering,  a  ma- 
jority of  the  House  being  in  favor  of  its  passage.  And  those  who 
defeated  the  bill  by  those  revolutionary  tactics  were  largely  from 
the  States  that  had  not  paid  the  tax.  [Cheers.]  I  mention  these 
facts  to  sho\v  that  twenty  millions  of  the  surplus  now  lying  in  the 
banks,  where  it  draws  no  interest,  might  very  righteously  be  used  so 
as  to  greatly  lighten  the  real  burdens  of  taxation  now  resting  on 
the  people — burdens  that  the  people  know  to  be  taxes  without  any 
argument  from  our  statesmen.  [Applause  and  laughter.]  I  am  a 
lover  of  silence  [laughter],  and  yet  when  such  assemblies  as  these 
greet  me  wTith  their  kind,  earnest  faces  and  their  kinder  words,  I 
do  not  know  how  I  can  do  less  than  to  say  a  few  words  upon  some 
of  these  great  public  questions.  I  have  spoken  frankly  and  fear- 
lessly my  convictions  upon  these  questions.  [Cheers  and  cries  of 
"Good!  Good!"]  And  now,  unappalled  by  the  immensity  of  this 
audience,  I  will  complete  the  accustomed  programme  and  take  by  the 
hand  such  of  you  as  desire  to  meet  me  personally.  [Cheers.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  14!) 

INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  27. 

GENERAL  HARRISON'S  visitors  this  day  came  from  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania.  Hancock  and  Allen  counties,  Ohio, 
sent  over  a  thousand,  including  the  Harrison  and  Morton 
Battalion  of  Lima,  commanded  by  Capt.  Martin  Atmer, 
arid  the  Republican  Veteran  Club  of  Findla}^,  Rev.  R.  H. 
Holliday,  President.  The  Chief  Marshal  of  the  combined 
delegations  was  Major  S.  F.  Ellis,  of  Lima,  hero  of  the 
forlorn  hope  storming  column  which  carried  the  intrench- 
ments  at  Port  Hudson,  La.,  June  15,  1863.  Prominent 
members  of  the  Allen  County  delegation  were  Hon.  Geo. 
Hall,  Geo.  P.  Waldorf,  S.  S.  Wheeler,  J.  F.  Price,  W.  A. 
Campbell,  J.  J.  Marks,  and  Burt  Hagedorn.  Major  S.  M. 
Jones  was  spokesman  for  the  visitors. 

General  Harrison,  with  his  usual  vigor,  replied : 

Gentlemen  and  my  Ohio  Friends — The  State  of  my  nativity  has 
again  placed  me  under  obligations  by  this  new  evidence  of  the  re- 
spect of  her  people.  I  am  glad  to  meet  you  and  to  notice  in  the 
kind  and  interested  faces  into  which  I  look  a  confirmation  of  the 
cordial  remarks  which  have  been  addressed  to  me  on  your  behalf. 
You  each  feel  a  personal  interest  and,  I  trust,  a  personal  responsi- 
bility in  this  campaign.  The  interest  which  expresses  itself  only 
in  public  demonstrations  is  not  of  the  highest  value.  The  citizen 
who  really  believes  that  this  election  will  either  give  a  fresh  im- 
pulse to  the  career  of  prosperity  and  honor  in  which  our  Nation 
has  walked  since  the  war,  or  will  clog  and  retard  that  progress, 
comes  far  short  of  his  duty  if  he  does  not  in  his  own  place  as  a  cit- 
izen make  his  influence  felt  for  the  truth  upon  those  who  are  near 
him.  [Applause.]  You  come  from  a  community  that  ha,s recently 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  beneath  the  soil  which  has  long  yielded 
bounteous  harvests  to  your  farmers  there  was  stored  by  nature  a 
great  and  new  source  of  wealth.  You,  in  common  with  neighbor- 
ing communities  in  Ohio  and  with  other  communities  in  our  State, 
have  only  partially  realized  as  yet  the  increase  in  wealth  that  oil 
and  natural  gas  will  bring  to  them,  if  it  is  not  checked  by  destruc- 
tive changes  in  our  tariff  policy.  This  fact  should  quicken  and 
intensify  the  interest  of  these  communities  in  this  contest  for  the 
preservation  of  the  American  system  of  protection.  [Applause.] 

It  is  said  by  some  of  our  opponents  that  a  protective  tariff  has  no 


lf>0  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

influence  upon  wages  ;  that  labor  in  the  United  States  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  competition  from  pauper  labor  ;  that  in  the  contest 
between  pauper  labor  and  high  priced  labor  pauper  labor  was 
always  driven  out.  Do  such  statements  as  these  fall  in  line  Avith 
experiences  of  these  working-men  who  are  before  me?  [Cries  of 
"No,  no!"]  If  that  is  true,  then  why  the  legislative  precautions 
we  have  wisely  taken  against  the  coming  of  pauper  labor  to  our 
shores?  It  is  because  you  know,  every  one  of  you,  that  in  a  con- 
test between  two  rival  establishments  here,  or  between  two  rival 
countries,  that  that  shop  or  that  country  that  pays  the  lowest  wages 
— and  £0  produces  most  cheaply — can  command  the  market.  If  the 
products  of  foreign  mills  that  pay  low  wages  are  admitted  here 
without  discriminating  duties,  you  know  there  is  only  one  way  to 
meet  such  competition,  and  that  is  by  reducing  wages  in  our  mills. 
[Applause.  ]  They  seek  to  entice  you  by  the  suggestion  that  you 
can  wear  cheaper  clothing  when  free  access  is  given  to  the  products 
of  foreign  woollen  mills  ;  and  yet  they  mention  also  that  now,  in 
some  of  our  own  cities,  the  men,  and  especially  the  women,  who 
are  manufacturing  the  garments  we  wear  are  not  getting  adequate 
wages,  and  that  among  some  of  them  there  is  suffering.  Do  they 
hope  that  when  the  coat  is  made  cheaper  the  wages  of  the  man  or 
woman  who  makes  it  will  be  increased?  The  power  of  your  labor 
organizations  to  secure  increased  wages  is  greatest  when  there  is  a 
large  demand  for  the  product  you  are  making  at  fair  prices.  You 
do  not  strike  for  better  wageg,on  a  falling  market.  When  the  mills 
are  running  full  time,  when  there  is  a  full  demand  at  good  prices 
for  the  product  of  your  toil,  and  when  warehouses  are  empty,  then 
your  organization  may  effectively  insist  upon  increased  wages. 
Did  any  of  you  ever  see  one  of  the  organized  .efforts  for  better 
wages  succeed  when  the  mill  was  running  on  half  time,  and  there 
was  a  small  demand  at  falling  prices  in  the  market  for  the  product? 
[Applause.]  The  protective  sj^stem  works  with  your  labor  organi- 
zation to  secure  and  maintain  a  just  compensation  for  labor. 
Whenever  it  becomes  true — as  it  is  in  some  other  countries — that 
the  workingman  spends  to-day  wrhat  he  will  earn  to-morrow,  then 
your  labor  organizations  will  lose  their  power.  Then  the  workman 
becomes  in  very  fact  a  part  of  the  machine  he  operates.  He  can- 
not leave  it,  for  he  has  eaten  to-day  bread  that  he  is  to  earn  to- 
morrow. But  when  he  eats  to-day  bread  that  he  earned  last  week 
or  last  year,  then  he  may  successfully  resist  any  unfair  exactions. 
[Applause.  ]  I  do  not  say  that  we  have  here  an  ideal  condition.  I 
do  not  deny  that  in  connection  with  some  of  our  employments  the 
conditions  of  life  are  hard.  But  the  practical  question  is  this  :  Is 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  151 

not  the  condition  t>f  our  working  people  on  the  average  compara- 
tively a  great  deal  better  than  that  of  any  other  country?  [Ap- 
plause and  cries  of  "Good  !  Good  !r] 

If  it  is,  then  you  will  carefully  scan  all  these  suggestions  before 
you  consent  that  the  work  of  foreign  workmen  shall  supply  our 
market,  now  supplied  by  the  products  of  the  hands  of  American 
workmen.  I  thank  you  again.  The  day  is  threatening  and  cool, 
and  I  beg  you  to  excuse  further  public  speech.  [Applause.] 

At  night  200  Pennsylvanians,  who  came  to  Indiana  to 
aid  in  developing  the  natural  gas  industry,  called  upon 
General  Harrison  at  his  residence,  under  the  direction  of 
a  committee  composed  of  Capt.  J.  C.  Gibney,  J.  B.  Wheeler, 
and  Geo.  A.  Richards.  Their  spokesman  was  Wm.  Mc- 
Elwaine,  a  fellow- workman. 

General  Harrison  addressed  them  and  said : 

Gentlemen — It  is  very  pleasant  for  me  to  meet  you  to-night  in 
my  owrn  home.  The  more  informal  my  intercourse  can  be  made 
with  my  fellow-citzens  the  more  agreeable  it  is  to  me.  To  you, 
and  all  others  who  will  come  informally  to  my  home,  I  will  gives, 
hearty  greeting.  I  am  glad  to  see  these  representatives  from  the 
State,  of  Pennsylvania  whose  business  pursuits  have  called  them  to 
make  their  home  with  us  in  Indiana.  The  State -of  Pennsylvania 
has  a  special  interest  forme  in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  native  State 
of  a,  mother  who,  though  nearly  forty  years  dead,  still  lives  affec- 
tionately in  my  memory.  I  welcome  you  here  to  this  State  as  those 
who  come  to  settle  among  us  under  new  conditions  of  industrial 
and  domestic  life,  to  bring  into  our  factories  and  our  homes  this 
new  fuel  from  which  we  hope  so  much,  not  only  in  the  promotion 
of  domestic  comfort  and  economy,  but  in  the  advancement  of  our 
manufacturing  institutions.  Your  calling  is  one  requiring  high 
skill  and  intelligence  and  great  fidelity.  The  agent  with  which 
you  deal  is  an  admirable  servant  but  a  dangerous  master,  and 
through  carelessness  may  bring  a  peril  instead  of  a  blessing  into  our 
households  and  into  our  communities.  I  am  glad  that  Indiana,  so 
long  drained  upon  by  the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi,  has  at  last 
felt  in  your  coming  from  that  stanch,  magnificent  Republican  com- 
monwealth some  restoration  of  this  drain,  which  has  made  the 
struggle  for  Republican  success  in  Indiana  doubtful  in  our  previous 
elections.  It  is  time  some  of  the  States  east  of  us,  having  such 
majorities  as  Pennsylvania,  were  contributing  not  only  to  our  busi- 
ness enterprise  and  prosperity,  but  to  the  strengthening  of  the 


152  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Republican  ranks,  which  have  been  depleted  by  the  invitations 
which  the  agricultural  States  of  the  West  have  extended  to  our  en- 
terprising young  men.  I  welcome  your  here  to-night,  and  will  be 
glad  to  have  a  personal  introduction  to  each  of  you.  [Applause.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  SEPTEMBER  29. 

OHIO  and  Illinois  did  honor  this  day  again  to  the  Repub- 
lican nominee.  From  Cleveland  came  800  voters;  their 
organizations  were  the  Harrison  Boys  in  Blue — 200  vet- 
erans of  the  Civil  War — commanded  by  Gen.  James  Bar- 
nett;  the  Garfield  Club,  led  by  Thomas  R.  Whitehead  and 
Albert  M.  Long;  the  Logan  Club,  headed  by  Capt.  W.  R. 
Isham,  and  the  German  Central  Club.  Prominent  in  the 
delegation  were  Hon.  Amos  Townsend,  John  Gibson,  and 
Major  Palmer,  the  blind  orator.  Gen.  E.  Myers  spoke  for 
the  Buckeyes.  The  city  of  Normal,  McLean  County, 
Illinois,  sent  a  delegation  of  200  teachers  and  students  of 
the  State  Normal  School,  including  70  ladies.  Student 
William  Galbraith  spoke  for  his  associates. 

General  Harrison,  in  response,  said : 

Gentlemen  and  Friends — The  organizations  represented  here  this 
morning  have  for  me  each  an  individual  interest.  Each  is  sugges- 
tive of  a  line  of  thought  which  I  should  be  glad  to  follow,  but  I 
cannot,  in  the  few  moments  that  I  can  speak  to  you  in  this  chilly 
atmosphere,  say  all  that  the  names  and  character  of  your  respective 
clubs  suggest  as  appropriate.  I  welcome  those  comrades  in  the 
Union  army  in  the  Civil  War.  [Cheers.  ] 

Death  wrought  its  work  in  ghastly  form  in  those  years  when, 
patiently,  fearlessly,  and  hopefully,  you  carried  the  flag  to  the 
front  and  brought  it  at  last  in  triumph  to  the  Nation's  capital. 
[Cheers.]  Death,  since,  in  its  gentler  forms,  has  been  coming 
into  the  households  where  the  veterans  that  were  spared  from  shot 
and  shell  abide.  The  muster-roll  of  the  living  is  growing  shorter. 
The  larger  company  is  being  rapidly  recruited.  You  live  not 
alone  in  the  memories  of  the  war.  Your  presence  here  attests  that, 
as  citizens,  you  feel  the  importance  of  these  civil  strifes.  You 
recall  the  incidents  of  the  great  war.  not  in  malice,  not  to  stir  or 
revive  sectional  divisions,  or  to  re- mark  sectional  lines,  but  because 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  15:> 

you  believe  that  it  is  good  for  the  Nation  that  loyalty  to  the  flag 
and  heroism  in  its  defence  should  be  remembered  and  honored. 
[Cheers.]  There  is  not  a  veteran  here,  in  this  Republican  Club  of 
veterans,  who  does  not  desire  that  the  streams  of  prosperity  in  the 
Southern  States  should  run  bank-full.  [Cheers.] 

There  is  not  one  who  does  not  sympathize  with  her  plague- 
stricken  communities,  and  rejoice  in  every  new  evidence  of  her 
industrial  development.  The  Union  veterans  have  never  sought  to 
impose  hard  conditions  upon  the  brave  men  they  vanquished.  The 
generous  terms  of  surrender  given  by  General  Grant  were  not  alone 
expressions  of  his  own  brave,  magnanimous  nature.  The  hearts  of 
soldiers  who  carried  the  gun  and  the  knapsack  in  his  victorious 
army  were  as  generous  as  his.  You  were  glad  to  accept  the  renewal 
of  the  Confederate  soldier's  allegiance  to  the  flag  as  the  happy  end 
of  all  strife  ;  willing  that  he  should  possess  the  equal  protection  and 
power  of  a  citizenship  that  you  had  preserved  for  yourselves  and 
secured  to  him.  [Cheers.]  You  have  only  asked — and  you  may 
confidently  submit  to  the  judgment  of  every  brave  Confederate 
soldier  whether  the  terms  are  not  fair — that  the  veteran  of  the 
Union  army  shall  have,  as  a  voter,  an  equal  influence  in  the  affairs 
of  the  country  that  was  saved  by  him  for  both  with  the  man  who 
fought  against  the  flag,  and  that  soldiers  of  neither  army  shall 
abridge  the  rights  of  others  under  the  law.  [Great  cheering.] 
Less  than  that  you  cannot  accept  with  honor ;  less  than  that  a  gen- 
erous foe  would  not  consent  to  offer. 

To  the  gentlemen  of  the  John  A.  Logan  Club  let  me  say :  You 
have  chosen  a  worthy  name  for  your  organization.  Patriot,  soldier, 
and  statesman,  Logan's  memory  will  live  in  the  affectionate  admi- 
ration of  his  comrades  and  in  the  respect  of  all  his  opponents.  His 
home  State  was  Illinois,  but  his  achievements  were  national. 

To  these  German- American  Republicans  I  give  a  most  cordial 
welcome.  You  have  been  known  in  our  politics  as  a  people  well 
informed  upon  all  the  great  economic  questions  that  ha.ve  arisen 
for  settlement.  You  have  always  been  faithful  to  an  honest  cur- 
rency. [Cheers.]  The  enticements  of  depreciated  money  did  not 
win  you  from  sound  principle.  You  bravely  stood  for  a  paper  cur- 
rency that  should  be  the  true  equivalent  of  coin.  [Cries  of  "Good  ! 
Good !"]  Those  who,  like  your  people,  have  learned  the  lessons  of 
thrift  and  economy  in  your  old  country  homes,  and  have  brought 
them  here  with  you,  realized  that  above  all  things  the  laborer 
needed  honest  money  that  would  not  shrink  in  his  hands  when  it 
had  paid  him  for  an  honest  day's  toil.  And  now,  when  another 
great  economic  question  is  pressing  for  determination,  I  do  not 


154  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

doubt  that  you  will  as  wisely  and  as  resolutely  help  to  settle  that 
also. 

As  the  great  German  chancellor,  that  student  of  human  govern- 
ment and  affairs,  turning  his  thoughtful  study  toward  the  history 
of  our  country  since  the  war,  has  declared  that  in  his  judgment  our 
protective  tariff  system  was  the  source  of  our  strength,  that  by 
reason  of  it  we  were  able  to  deal  with  a  war  debt  that  seemed  to  be 
appalling  and  insurmountable,  I  do  not  doubt  that  you,  too,  men 
who  believe  in  work  and  in  thrift,  and  so  many  of  whom  are 
everywhere  sheltered  under  a  roof  of  their  own,  will  unite  with 
us  in  this  struggle  to  preserve  our  American  market  for  our  own 
workingmen,  and  to  maintain  here  a  living  standard  of  wages. 
[Cheers.  ] 

To  these  students  who  come  fresh  from  the  class-room  to  give  me 
a  greeting  this  morning  I  also  return  my  sincere  thanks.  I  suggest 
to  them  that  they  be  not  only  students  of  books  and  maxims,  but 
also  of  men  a.nd  markets ;  that  in  the  study  of  the  tariff  question 
they  do  not  forget,  as  so  many  do,  that  they  are  Americans. 

I  thank  you  all  again  for  your  visit.  I  regret  that  I  am  not 
able  to  give  you,  in  my  own  home,  a  personal  and  more  cordial 
greeting.  My  house  is  not  large  enough  to  receive  you.  [A 
voice,  "  Your  heart  is !"]  Yes,  I  have  room  enough  in  my  heart 
for  all.  [Great  cheering.  ]  I  am  very  sincerely  grateful  for  these 
evidences  of  your  personal  regard.  Out  of  them  all ;  out  of  the 
coming  of  these  frequent  and  enthusiastic  crowds  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  ;  out  of  all  these  kind  words  ;  out  of  these  kind  faces  of 
men  and  women:  out  of  the  hearty  " God- speeds"  you  give  me,  I 
hope  to  bring  an  inspiration  and  an  endowment  for  whatever  may 
be  before  me  in  life,  whether  I  shall  walk  in  private  or  public 
paths.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

The  largest  delegation  of  the  day,  numbering  over  a 
thousand  business  men,  arrived  from  Chicago,  after  stop- 
ping en  route  at  several  important  points,  where  their 
orators,  Gen.  H.  H.  Thomas,  George  Drigg,  and  Judge 
John  "W.  Green,  made  speeches.  Their  notable  political 
organizations  were  the  First  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Chicago, 
100  veterans  of  1840,  led  by  Dr.  D.  S.  Smith;  the  Logan 
Club,  and  the  Twelfth  Ward  Republican  Club,  led  by 
Charles  Catlin,  E.  S.  Taylor,  Wm.  Wilkes,  and  Joseph 
Dixon.  Judge  Green  and  Dr.  Smith  delivered  addresses. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  155 

General  Harrison,  responding,  said : 

My  Illinois  Friends — It  is  a  source  of  great  regret  to  ine  that  we 
are  not  able  to  make  your  reception  more  comfortable.  The  chill 
of  this  September  evening  and  of  this  open  grove  is  not  sugges- 
tive of  the  hospitable  and  cordial  welcome  that  our  people  would 
have  been  glad  to  extend  to  you.  Our  excuse  for  this  time  may  be 
found  in  the  vastness  of  this  assemblage.  I  am  pleased  to  have 
this  fresh  and  imposing  evidence  of  the  enthusiasm  and  interest  of 
the  Illinois  Republicans.  [Cheers.]  There  is  nothing  in  the  great 
history  of  the  Republican  party  that  need  inake  any  man  blush  to 
own  himself  a  Republican.  [Cheers.]  There  is  much  to  kindle 
the  enthusiasm  of  all  lovers  of  their  country.  We  do  not  rest  in 
the  past,  but  we  rejoice  in  it.  [Cheers.  ]  The  Republican  party 
has  so  consistently  followed  the  teachings  of  those  great  Americans 
whose  names  the  wTorld  reveres  that  we  may  appropriately  hold  a 
Republican  convention  on  the  birthday  of  any  one  of  them. 
[Cheers.]  The  calendar  of  our  political  saints  does  not  omit  one 
name  that  was  conspicuous  in  peace  or  war.  [Cheers.]  We  can 
celebrate  Jackson's  birthday  or  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans  because  he  stood  for  the  unity  of  the  Nation,  and  his  vic- 
tory confirmed  it  in  the  respect  of  the  world.  [Great  cheering.] 
There  is  no  song  of  patriotism  that  we  do  not  sing  in  our  meetings. 
There  is  no  marble  that  has  been  builded  to  perpetuate  the  glory  of 
our  soldiers  about  which  we  may  not  appropriately  assemble  and 
proclaim  the  pine iples  that  we  advocate.  [Cheers.  ]  We  believe  in 
our  country,  and  give  it  our  love  and  first  care.  We  have  always 
advocated  that  policy  in  legislation  which  was  promotive  of  the 
interests  and  honor  of  our  country.  [Cheers.  ]  I  will  not  discuss 
any  particular  public  topic  to-day,  as  the  conditions  are  so  unfa- 
vorable for  out- door  speaking.  Let  me  thank  you  again  for  this 
cordial  evidence  of  your  interest  and  for  the  personal  respect  which 
you  have  shown  to  me.  I  hope  you  will  believe  that  my  heart  is 
deeply  touched  in  these  manifestations  of  the  friendliness  of  my 
fellow-citizens.  If  in  anything  I  shall  come  short  of  the  high  ex- 
pectations and  hopes  they  have  formed,  it  will  not  be  because  I  do 
not  feel  myself  put  under  the  highest  obligations  by  these  evidences 
of  their  friendly  regard  to  do  my  utmost  to  continue  in  their 
respect  and  confidence.  [Great  cheering.  ] 


156  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  2. 

THE  fourteenth  week  of  General  Harrison's  public  recep- 
tions opened  this  date  with  the  arrival  of  an  enthusiastic 
Republican  club  from  the  distant  city  of  Tower,  Minn., 
most  of  whose  members  were  engaged  in  the  iron  industry. 
They  left  a  huge  specimen  of  Vermilion  range  iron  ore — 
weighing  over  500  pounds — in  the  front  yard  of  the  Harri- 
son residence.  Prominent  in  the  delegation  were  Dr.  Fred 
Barnett,  Capt.  Elisha  Marcom,  S.  F.  White,  Chas.  R. 
Haines,  John  Owens,  W.  N.  Shepard,  K  H.  Bassett,  S.  J. 
Noble,  J.  E.  Bacon,  J.  B.  Noble,  Frank  Burke,  W.  H. 
Wickes,  Chas.  L.  White,  A.  Nichaud,  D.  McKinley,  and 
Page  Norris;  also  Geo.  M.  Smith  and  W.  H.  Cruikshank, 
of  Duluth. 

Immediately  following  the  reception  of  the  Minnesota 
visitors  came  two  large  delegations  from  Fulton  and  Mar- 
shall counties,  Indiana.  The  Fulton  leaders  were  J.  H. 
Bibler,  Dr.  W.  S.  Shafer,  Dr.  E.  Z.  Capell,  Arthur  Howard, 
Samuel  Heftly,  Henry  Mow,  C.  D.  Sisson,  Arch  Stinson, 
J.  F.  Collins,  A.  F.  Bowers,  W.  J.  Howard,  and  T.  M. 
Bitters,  of  Rochester.  M.  L.  Essick  was  their  spokes- 
man. Among  the  prominent  members  of  the  Marshall 
County  delegation  were  M.  W.  Simons,  John  W.  Parks, 
J.  W.  Siders,  Edward  McCoy,  M.  S.  Smith,  John  V.  Ast- 
ley,  Enoch  Baker,  I.  H.  Watson,  and  Abram  Shafer,  of 
Plymouth.  H.  G.  Thayer  delivered  the  address. 

General  Harrison  said : 

My  Indiana  Friends — This  is  a  home  company  to- day.  Usually 
our  Indiana  visitors  have  met  here  delegations  from  other  States. 
I  am  sure  you  will  understand  that  I  place  a  special  value  upon 
these  evidences  of  the  interest  Indiana  Republicans  are  taking  in 
the  campaign.  Whatever  the  fate  of  the  battle  may  be  elsewhere,  it 
is  always  a  source  of  pride  to  the  soldier  and  to  his  leader  that  the 
part  of  the  line  confided  to  their  care  held  fast.  [Applause.  ]  I 
feel  that  I  ought  also  to  acknowledge  the  friendliness  and  co-oper- 
ation which  has  been  already  extended  to  us  in  this  campaign  by 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  157 

many  who  have  differed  with  us  heretofore.  [Applause.]  It  is 
encouraging  to  hear  that  the  prosperous  and  intelligent  farmers  of 
Marshall  and  Fulton  counties  have  not  been  misled  by  the  attempt 
to  separate  the  agricultural  vote  from  the  vote  of  the  shop.  It  has 
seemed  to  me  that  the  Mills  bill  was  framed  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  from  the  protection  column  the  agricultural  voters,  not 
by  showing  them  favor,  but  the  reverse — by  placing  agricultural 
products  on  the  free  list,  thus  withdrawing  from  the  farmer  the 
direct  benefits  he  is  receiving  from  our  tariff  laws  as  affecting 
the  products  of  his  labor,  hoping  that  the  farmers  might  then  be 
relied  upon  to  pull  down  the  rest  of  the  structure.  I  am  glad  to 
believe  that  we  have  in  Indiana  a  class  of  farmers  too  intelligent 
to  be  caught  by  these  unfriendly  and  fallacious  propositions. 
[Applause.]  I  had  to-day  a  visit  from  twenty  or  more  gentle- 
men who  came  from  the  town  of  Tower,  in  the  most  northern 
part  of  Minnesota,  where,  within  the  last  four  years,  there  has 
been  discovered  and  developed  a  great  deposit  of  iron  ore  es- 
pecially adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  steel.  Within  the  four 
years  since  these  mines  were  opened  they  tell  me  that  about  a  mil- 
lion tons  of  ore  have  been  mined  and  sent  to  the  furnaces.  They 
also  mentioned  the  fact  that  arrangements  are  already  being 
made  to  bring  block  coal  of  Indiana  to  the  mouth  of  these  iron 
mines,  that  the  work  of  smelting  may  be  done  there.  This  is  a 
good  illustration  of  the  interlocking  of  interests  between  widely 
separated  States  of  the  Union  [applause] — a  new  market  and  a 
larger  demand  for  Indiana  coal. 

The  attempt  is  often  made  to  create  the  impression  that  only  par- 
ticular classes  of  workingmen  are  benefited  by  a  protective  tariff. 
There  can  be  nothing  more  untrue.  The  wages  of  all  labor — labor 
upon  the  farm,  labor  upon  our  streets — has  a  direct  and  essential 
relation  to  the  scale  of  wages  that  is  paid  to  skilled  labor.  [Ap- 
plause.] One  might  as  well  say  that  you  could  bring  down  the 
price  of  a  higher  grade  of  cotton  cloth  without  affecting  the  price 
of  lower  grades  as  to  say  that  you  can  degrade  the  price  of  skilled 
labor  without  dragging  down  the  w^ages  of  unskilled  labor.  [Ap- 
plause.] This  attempt  to  classify  and  schedule  the  men  who  are 
benefited  by  a  protective  tariff  is  utterly  deceptive.  [Applause.  ] 
The  benefits  are  felt  by  all  classes  of  our  people — by  the  farmer  as 
well  as  by  the  workmen  in  our  mills ;  by  the  man  who  works  on 
the  street  as  well  as  the  skilled  laborer  who  works  in  the  mill ;  by 
the  women  in  the  household,  and  by  the  children  who  are  now  in 
the  schools  and  might  otherwise  be  in  the  mills.  [Applause.]  It 
is  a  policy  broad  enough  to  embrace  within  the  scope  of  its  benefi- 


158  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

cent  influence  all  our  population.  [Applause.  ]  I  thank  you  for 
your  visit,  and  will  be  glad  to  meet  any  of  you  personally  who  de- 
sire to  speak  to  me.  [Applause.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  3. 

THE  Porter-Columbian  Club,  a  local  organization  named 
in  honor  of  Governor  Porter,  with  a  membership  of  TOO 
workingmen,  paid  their  respects  to  General  Harrison  on 
this  night,  commanded  by  their  President  and  founder, 
Marshall  C.  Woods,  who  delivered  an  address. 

General  Harrison,  in  reply,  said : 

Mr.  Woods  and  my  Friends — My  voice  is  not  in  condition  to 
speak  at  much  length  in  this  cool  night  air  I  am  very  deeply 
grateful  for  this  evidence  of  the  respect  of  this  large  body  of 
Indianapolis  workingmen.  I  am  glad  to  be  assured  by  what  has 
been  said  to  me  that  you  realize  that  this  campaign  has  a  special 
interest  for  the  wage-earners  of  America.  [Cries  of  "Good! 
Good  !"] 

That  is  the  first  question  in  life  with  you,  because  it  involves  the 
subsistence  and  comfort  of  your  families.  I  do  not  wonder  then 
that,  out  of  so  many  different  associations  in  life,  you  have  come 
together  into  this  organization  to  express  your  determination  to 
vote  for  the  maintenance  of  the  American  system  of  protection. 
[Great  cheering.  ] 

I  think  you  can  all  understand  that  it  is  not  good  for  American 
workingmen  that  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  in  this  country 
should  be  diminished  by  transferring  some  of  it  to  foreign  shops. 
[Applause.]  Nor  ought  the  wages  paid  for  the  work  that  is  done 
here  to  be  diminished  by  bringing  you  into  competition  with  the 
underpaid  labor  of  the  old  country.  [Applause.] 

I  am  not  speaking  any  new  sentiment  to-night.  Many  times  be- 
fore the  Chicago  convention  I  have,  in  public  addresses,  expressed 
the  opinion  that  every  workingman  ought  to  have  such  wages  as 
would  not  only  yield  him  a  decent  and  comfortable  support  for  his 
family,  and  enable  him  to  keep  his  children  in  school  and  out  of 
the  mill  in  their  tender  age,  but  would  allow  him  to  lay  up  against 
incapacity  by  sickness  or  accident,  or  for  old  age,  some  fund  on 
which  he  could  rely.  These  views  1  entertain  to-night.  I  beg  you 
to  excuse  further  public  speech  and  to  alkrvjr  me  to  receive  person- 
ally such  of  you  as  care  to  speak  to  me.  [ Applause.  J 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  159 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  4. 

THREE  States  did  homage  to  the  Republican  nominee 
this  date.  From  Grand  Rapids  and  Muskegon,  Mich., 
came  500  visitors,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Belknap  Club 
of  Grand  Rapids.  The  wife  of  Governor  Luce  was  a 
member  of  the  delegation,  accompanied  by  R.  C.  Luce  and 
W.  A.  Davitt.  Other  prominent  members  were :  Judge 
F.  J.  Russell,  Hon.  A.  B.  Turner,  Col.  C.  T.  Foote,  J.  B. 
Pantlind,  Don  J.  Leathers,  Col.  E.  S.  Pierce,  Wm.  A. 
Gavett,  H.  J.  Felker,  D.  G.  Grotty,  H.  J.  Stevens,  Aldrich 
Tateum,  Louis  Kanitz,  A.  E.  Yerex,  and  K  McGraft,  of 
Grand  Rapids ;  Thomas  A.  Parish  and  Geo.  Turner,  of 
Grand  Haven ;  and  John  J.  Cappon,  of  Holland.  John 
Patton,  Jr.,  of  Grand  Rapids,  was  orator. 

The  Ohio  visitors  came  from  Tiffin,  Seneca  County, 
led  by  the  venerable  A.  C.  Baldwin,  Capt.  John  McCor- 
mick,  Albert  Corthell,  Capt.  Edward  Jones,  Edward 
Nay  lor,  and  J.  B.  Rosenburger.  The  wife  of  Gen.  Wm. 
H.  Gibson  was  an  honored  guest  of  the  delegation,  accom- 
panied by  Mrs.  Robert  Lysle  and  Mrs.  Root.  J.  K.  Rohn 
was  spokesman  for  the  Ohio  visitors. 

The  third  delegation  comprised  1,200  voters  from  Jay 
County,  Indiana,  led  by  Gen.  N.  Shepherd,  Theodore  Bai- 
ley, Richard  A.  Green,  John  Geiger,  E.  J.  Marsh,  Frank 
H.  Snyder,  and  M.  V.  Moudy,  of  Portland.  Jesse  M.  La 
Follette  was  their  speaker. 

To  these  several  addresses  General  Harrison,  in  response, 
said: 

My  Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Indiana  Friends — These  cordial  mani- 
festations of  your  personal  regard  move  me  very  deeply  [applause] , 
but  I  do  not  at  all  appropriate  to  myself  the  great  expressions  of 
popular  interest  of  which  this  meeting  is  only  one.  I  understand 
that  my  relation  to  these  public  questions  and  to  the  people  is  a 
representative  one — that  the  interest  which  thus  expresses  itself  is 
in  principles  of  government  rather  than  in  men.  [Cheers.  ]  I  am 
one  of  the  oldest  Republicans ;  my  first  presidential  vote  was  given 


160  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

to  the  first  Republican  candidate  for  that  office  [applause] ,  and  it 
has  always  been  a  source  of  profound  gratification  to  me  that,  in 
peace  and  war,  a  high  spirit  of  patriotism  and  devotion  to  our 
country  has  always  pervaded  and  dominated  the  party.  [Cheers.  ] 
When,  during  the  Civil  War,  the  clouds  hung  low,  disasters  thick- 
ened, and  the  future  was  crowded  with  uncanny  fears,  never  did 
any  Republican  convention  assemble  without  declaring  its  faith  in 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  our  cause  [great  cheering]  ;  and  now,  with 
a  broad  patriotism  that  embraces  and  regards  the  interests  of  all 
the  States,  it  advocates  policies  that  will  develop  and  unite  all  our 
communities  in  the  friendly  and  profitable  interchange  of  com- 
merce as  well  as  in  a  lasting  political  union.  [Applause.  ]  These 
great  Western  State-swill  not  respond  to  the  attempt  to  excite  prej- 
udice against  New  England.  We  advocate  measures  that  are  as 
broad  as  our  national  domain ;  that  are  calculated  to  distil  their 
equal  blessing  upon  all  the  land.  [Cheers.]  The  people  of  the 
great  West  recognize  and  value  the  great  contribution  which  those 
commonwealths  about  Plymouth  Rock  have  made  to  the  civiliza- 
tion, material  growth,  and  manhood  of  our  Western  States. 
[Cheers.  ]  We  are  not  envious  of  the  prosperity  of  New  England  ; 
we  rejoice  in  it.  We  believe  that  the  protective  policy  developed 
her  great  manufacturing  institutions  and  made  her  rich,  and  we  do 
not  doubt  that  a  continuance  of  that  policy  will  produce  the  'same 
results  in  Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Indiana.  [Cheers.]  We  are  not 
content  to  remain  wholly  agricultural  States  in  our  relations  to 
either  New  England  or  old  England.  [Applause.]  We  believe 
that  in  all  these  great  Western  States  there  are  minerals  in  the  soil 
and  energy  and  skill  in  the  brains  and  arms  of  our  people  that  will 
yet  so  multiply  and  develop  our  manufacturing  industries  as  to 
give  us  a  nearer  home  market  for  much  of  the  products  of  our  soil. 
[Cheers.]  And  for  that  great  surplus  which  now  and  always,  per- 
haps, we  shall  not  consume  at  home  we  think  a  New  England  mar- 
ket better  than  a  foreign  market.  [Enthusiastic  and  prolonged 
cheering.]  The  issue  upon  this  great  industrial  question  is  drawn 
as  sharply  as  the  lines  were  ever  drawn  between  contending  armies. 
Men  are  readjusting  their  party  relations  upon  this  great  question. 
The  appeal  that  is  now  made  for  the  defence  of  our  American  sys- 
tem is  finding  its  response,  and  many  of  those  who  are  opposed  to 
us  upon  other  questions  are  committing  such  questions  to  the  fut- 
ure for  settlement,  while  they  help  us  to  settle  now  and  for  an  in- 
definite future  the  great  question  of  the  preservation  of  our  com- 
mercial independence.  [Applause.]  The  Democratic  party  has 
challenged  our  protected  industries  to  a  fight  of  extermination. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  161 

The  wage -earners  of  our  country  have  accepted  the- challenge.  The 
issue  of  the  contest  will  settle  for  many  years  our  tariff  policy. 
[Prolonged  cheering.]  The  eloquent  descriptions  to  which  we 
have  listened  of  the  material  wealth  of  the  great  State  of  Michigan 
have  been  full  of  interest  to  us  as  citizens  of  Indiana.  We  cannot 
doubt  that  the  people  of  a  State  having  such  generous  invitations 
to  the  developments  of  great  home  wealth  in  manufacturing  and 
mining  pursuits  will  understand  the  issue  that  is  presented,  and 
will  cast  their  influence  in  favor  of  that  policy  which  will  make 
that  development  rapid  and  sure ;  and  more  than  all,  and  better 
than  all,  will  maintain  in  her  communities  a  well-paid  class  of 
wage  -workers.  [Cheers.]  Our  wage-workers  vote  ;  they  are  Amer- 
ican citizens,  and  it  is  essential  that  they  be  kept  free  from  the 
slavery  of  want  and  the  discontents  bred  of  injustice.  [Applause.  ] 

I  thank  my  Michigan  friends  for  these  handsome  specimens  of 
the  products  of  their  mines  and  of  their  mills.  I  shall  cherish 
them  with  grateful  recollection  of  this  pleasant  visit.  [Applause.  ] 

To  my  Indiana  friends,  always  generous,  I  return  my  thanks  for 
this  new  evidence  of  their  esteem.  [Cheers.] 

To  my  Ohio  friends,  who  so  often  before  have  visited  me  with 
kind  expressions  of  their  regard,  I  return  the  thanks  of  a  native- 
born  Ohioan.  [Prolonged  cheers  from  the  Ohio  delegation.  ] 

Three  great  States  are  grouped  here  to-day.  I  remember  at 
Resaca,  when  the  field  and  staff  of  the  regiments  that  were  to  make 
the  assault  were  ordered  to  dismount,  there  was  a  Michigan  officer 
too  sick  to  go  on  foot  and  too  proud  to  subject  himself  to  the  impu- 
tation of  cowardice  by  staying  behind. 

He  rode  alone,  the  one  horseman  in  that  desperate  charge,  and 
died  on  that  bloody  hillside  rather  than  subject  his  State  to  the  im- 
putation that  one  of  her  sons  had  lingered  when  the  enemy  was  to 
be  engaged.  He  was  a  noble  type  of  the  brave  men  these  great 
States  gave  to  the  country.  [Cheers.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  5. 

WISCONSIN  and  Indiana  were  the  States  represented  at 
this  day's  reception.  The  Wisconsin  visitors  came  from 
Madison,  Janesville,  and  Beloit.  Prominent  among  them 
were  General  Atwood,  editor  Wisconsin  State  Journal, 
Surgeon-General  Palmer,  W.  T.  Van  Kirk,  and  T.  G. 
Maudt.  R.  C.  Spooner  spoke  for  the  Badgers. 


162  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Fountain  County,  Indiana,  sent  2,000  visitors,  led  by 
a  club  of  Tippecanoo  veterans.  Among  their  represent- 
ative men  were  H.  La  Tourette,  W.  W.  Layton,  John 
H.  Spence,  of  Covington;  A.  H.  Clark,  and  W.  H.  Malory, 
of  Veedersburg;  A.  S.  Peacock,  H.C.Martin,  and  C.  E. 
Holm,  of  Attica.  Capt.  Benj.  Hegeler,of  Attica,  delivered 
the  address  on  behalf  of  the  Hoosiers. 

General  Harrison  responded  as  follows: 

My  Wisconsin  and  my  Indiana  Friends — These  great  daily  mani- 
festations of  the  interest  of  great  masses  of  our  people  in  the  prin- 
ciples represented  by  the  Republican  party  are  to  me  increasingly 
impressive.  I  am  glad  to-day  that  Indiana  has  opportunity  to  wel- 
come a  delegation  from  the  magnificent  State  of  Wisconsin. 
[Cheers.  ]  It  offers  a  fitting  opportunity  to  acknowledge  my  per- 
sonal obligation  and  the  obligation  of  the  Indiana  Republicans  for 
the  early  and  constant  support  which  Wisconsin  gave  to  the  efforts 
of  the  Indiana  delegation  in  the  Chicago  convention.  [Prolonged 
cheers.]  To-day  two  States,  not  contiguous  in  territory,  but  touch- 
ing in  many  interests,  are  met  to  express  the  fact  that  these  great 
electoral  contests  affect  all  our  people.  It  is  not  alone  in  the  choice 
of  Presidential  electors  that  we  have  common  interests.  Our  na- 
tional Congress,  though  chosen  in  separate  districts,  legislates  for 
all  our  people.  Wisconsin  has  a  direct  interest  that  the  ballot  shall 
be  free  and  pure  in  Indiana,  and  Wisconsin  and  Indiana  have  a 
direct  interest  that  the  ballot  shall  be  free  and  pure  in  all  the  States. 
[Great  cheering.  ]  Therefore  let  no  man  say  that  it  is  none  of  our 
business  how  elections  are  conducted  in  other  States.  [Cheers.  ]  I 
believe  that  this  great  question  of  a  free  ballot,  so  much  disturbed 
by  race  questions  in  the  South,  would  be  settled  this  year  if  the 
men  of  the  South  who  believe  with  us  upon  the  great  question  of 
the  protection  of  American  industries  would  throw  off  old  preju- 
dices and  vote  their  convictions  upon  that  question.  [Cheers  and 
cries  of  "Good!  Good!"]  I  believe  there  are  indications  that  the 
independent  manhood  of  the  South  will  this  year  strongly  manifest 
itself  in  this  direction.  Those  intelligent  and  progressive  citizens 
of  the  South  who  are  seeking  to  build  up  within  their  own  States 
diversified  industries  will  not  much  longer  be  kept  in  bondage  to 
the  traditions  of  the  days  when  the  South  was  wholly  a  commu- 
nity of  planters. 

When  they  assert  their  belief  in  a  protective  tariff,  by  support- 
ing the  only  party  that  advocates  that  policy,  the  question  of  a 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  1<»3 

free  ballot,  so  far  as  it  is  a  Southern  question,  will  be  settled  for- 
ever, for  they  will  have  the  power  to  insist  that  those  who  believe 
with  them  shall  vote,  and  that  their  votes  shall  be  counted.  [Ap- 
plause.] The  protective  policy,  by  developing  a  home  supply  and 
limiting  importations,  helps  us  to  maintain  the  balance  of  trade 
upon  our  side  in  our  dealings  with  the  world.  [Cheers.  ]  Under 
the  tariff  of  1846  from  the  year  1850  to  1860  the  balance  of  trade 
was  continuously  against  us,  aggregating  in  that  period  over  three 
hundred  millions  of  dollars.  Under  the  influence  of  a  protective 
tariff  the  balance  of  trade  has  been  generally  and  largely  with  us, 
unless  disturbed  by  special  conditions.  Instead  of  sending  our 
gold  abroad  to  pay  a  foreign  balance  we  have  usually  been  bring- 
ing foreign  gold  here  to  augment  our  store.  [Cheers.]  I  will  not 
detain  you  further.  These  daily  demands  upon  me  make  it  neces- 
sary that  I  shall  speak  briefly.  Let  me  thank  most  profoundly 
those  gentlemen  and  ladies  from  Wisconsin  who  have  come  so  far 
to  bring  me  this  tribute  of  their  respect.  I  very  highly  value  it. 
These,  my  Indiana  friends,  unite  with  me  in  thanking  you  for 
your  presence  to-day.  [Cheers  from  the  Indianians.  ]  To  my  nearer 
friends,  my  Fountain  County  friends,  let  me  say  I  am  profoundly 
grateful  to  you  for  this  large  and  imposing  demonstration  and  for 
the  interest  you  are  individually  taking  in  this  campaign.  [Cheers.  ] 
I  do  not  think  of  it  as  a  personal  campaign.  It  has  always  seemed 
to  me  to  be  altogether  greater  than  that,  and  when  I  thank  you  for 
your  interest  and  commend  your  zeal  it  is  an  interest  in  principles 
and  a  zeal  for  the  truth  that  I  approve.  [Cheers.] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  6. 

SATURDAY,  October  G,  was  one  of  the  great  days  of  the 
campaign.  The  first  delegation,  numbering  2,000,  came 
from  Wells  and  Blackford  counties,  Indiana.  Conspicu- 
ous in  their  ranks  were  two  large  uniformed  clubs  of 
ladies,  one  from  Montpelier,  and  the  Carrie  Harrison  Club 
of  Bluff  ton.  In  the  Wells  County  contingent  were  many 
1840  veterans  and  21  newly-converted  Democrats.  Their 
leaders  were  Asbury  Duglay,  D.  H.  Swaim,  B.  W.  Bow- 
man, Peter  Ulmer,  Silas  Wisner,  Joseph  Milholland,  J. 
C.  Hatfield,  and  T.  A.  Doan.  J.  J.  Todd  was  their  spokes- 
man. Prominent  in  the  Blackford  delegation  were  Frank 


164  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Geisler,  H.  M.  Campbell,  W.  L.  Hitter,  Eli  Hamilton,  R. 
V.  Ervin,  W.  A.  Williams,  John  Sipe,  and  John  Cantwell, 
of  Hartford  City;  J.  C.  Summervffle,  Win.  Pugh,  J.  H. 
Morrical,  G.  A.  Mason,  John  G.  Ward,  and  J.  M.  Tinsley, 
of  Montpelier.  Hon.  B.  G.  Shinn  delivered  the  address  on 
behalf  of  the  Blackford  people. 

General  Harrison  confined  his  speech  to  State  questions. 
He  said : 

My  Wells  and  Blackford  County  Friends — I  am  glad  to  meet  you. 
It  is  extremely  gratifying  to  be  assured  by  your  presence  here  this 
inclement  day,  and  by  the  kind  words  which  you  have  addressed 
to  me  through  your  representatives,  that  I  have  some  part  in  your 
friendly  regard  as  an  individual.  But  individuals  are  not  of  the 
first  importance.  That  man  who  thinks  that  the  prosperity  of  this 
country  or  the  right  administration  of  its  affairs  is  wholly  depen- 
dent upon  him  grossly  exaggerates  his  value.  The  essential  things 
to  us  are  the  principles  of  government  upon  which  our  institutions 
were  builded,  and  by  and  through  which  we  make  that  symmetri- 
cal and  safe  growth  which  has  characterized  our  Nation  in  the  past, 
and  which  is  yet  to  raise  it  to  a  higher  place  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  [Applause.]  We  are  Indianians — Hoosiers,  if  you 
please  [cheers] — and  are  proud  of  the  State  of  which  we  are  citi- 
zens. Your  spokesmen  have  referred  with  an  honest  pride  to  th<s 
counties  from  which  you  have  come,  and  that  is  well.  But  I  would 
like  to  suggest  to  you  that  every  political  community  and  neighbor- 
hood has  a  character  of  its  own,  a  moral  character,  as  well  as  every 
man  and  every  woman,  and  it  is  exceedingly  important,  looked  at 
even  from  the  side  of  material  advantage,  that  our  communities 
should  maintain  a  good  reputation  for  social  order,  intelligence, 
virtue,  and  a  faithful  and  willing  obedience  to  law.  [Applause.] 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  such  a  character  possessed  by  any  State 
or  county  attracts  immigration  and  capital,  advances  its  material 
development,  and  enhances  the  value  of  its  farms.  There  has  been 
much  in  the  history  of  Indiana  that  is  exceedingly  creditable. 
There  have  been  some  things — there  are  some  things  to-day — that 
are  exceedingly  discreditable  to  us  as  a  political  community  ;  things 
that  I  believe  retard  the  advancement  of  our  State  and  affect  its 
material  prosperity  by  degrading  it  in  the  estimation  of  right-think- 
ing men.  One  of  those  things  is  this  patent  and  open  fact :  that 
the  great  benevolent  institutions  of  this  State,  instead  of  being  op- 
erated upon  the  high  plane  that  public  charities  should  occupy,  are 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  105 

being  operated  and  managed  upon  the  lowest  plane  of  party  pur- 
poses and  advantage.  [Cries of  "That's  so  !"]  Another  such  thing 
is  of  recent  occurrence.  In  the  campaign  of  1886,  after  advising 
with  the  chief  law  officer  of  the  State,  a  Democratic  Governor  de- 
clared to  the  people  of  this  State  that  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  Lieutenant- Governor  which  the  people  were  entitled  to  fill 
at  the  ensuing  general  election.  The  Democratic  party  acted  upon 
that  advice,  assembled  in  convention  in  this  hall,  and  nominated , 
John  C.  Nelson  for  Lieutenant -Governor.  The  Republican  party 
followed  with  their  convention,  and  placed  in  nomination  that  gal- 
lant soldier,  Robert  S.  Robertson.  [Cheers.  ]  These  two  gentlemen 
went  before  the  people  of  Indiana  and  made  a  public  canvass  for 
the  office.  The  election  was  held,  and  Colonel  Robertson  was  chosen 
by  a  majority  of  about  3,000.  [Applause.]  Is  there  a  man  in  the 
State,  Democratic  or  Republican,  who  doubts  that  if  the  choice  had 
been  otherwise,  and  Mr.  Nelson  had  received  a  majority  at  the 
polls,  the  House  of  Representatives,  which  was  Republican,  would 
have  met  with  the  Democratic  Senate  in  an  orderly  joint  meeting, 
for  canvassing  the  votes,  and  that  Mr.  Nelson  would  have  been  in- 
augurated as  Lieutenant -Governor?  [Cries  of  "No,  no!"]  But  the 
result  was  otherwise ;  and  the  public  fame,  the  good  reputation  of 
this  State,  was  dishonored  when,  by  force  and  brutal  methods,  the 
voice  of  the  people  was  stifled,  and  the  man  they  had  chosen  was 
excluded  from  the  right  to  exercise  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
Lieutenant -Governor.  [Cries  of  "Yes,  yes  !"]  Do  the  people  think 
that  the  attractiveness  of  Indiana  as  a  home  for  Americans  who  be- 
lieve in  social  order  and  popular  government  has  been  increased 
by  this  violent  and  disgraceful  incident?  Do  our  Democratic 
friends  who  have  an  honest  State  pride,  who  would  like  to  main- 
tain the  honor  and  good  reputation  of  the  State,  who  would  have 
the  people  of  our  sister  States  believe  that  we  have  a  people  who 
believe  in  a  warm  canvass  but  in  a  free  ballot,  and  a  manly  and 
ready  acquiescence  in  election  results,  intend  to  support  their  lead- 
ers in  this  violent  exclusion  from  office  of  a  duly  chosen  public 
officer?  Do  those  who  are  Democrats  from  principle,  and  not 'for 
personal  spoils,  intend  to  support  the  men  who  have  first  prosti- 
tuted our  benevolent  institutions  to  party  and  now  to  personal  ad- 
vantage? These  things,  if  not  reproved  and  corrected  by  our  people, 
will  not  only  disgrace  us  in  the  estimation  of  all  good  people,  but 
will  substantially  retard  the  material  development  of  the  State. 
[Cheers.]  I  am  not  talking  to-day  of  questions  in  which  I  have 
any  other  interest  than  that  you  have,  my  fellow-citizens.  [Ap- 
plause. ]  I  believe  the  material  prosperity  of  Indiana,  much  more 


1G6  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  honor,  will  be  advanced  if  her  people  in  this  State  election 
shall  rebuke  the  shameless  election  frauds  that  have  recently  scan- 
dalized .our  State,  the  prostitution  of  our  benevolent  institutions, 
and  the  wanton  violence  that  overturned  the  result  of  the  popular 
election  in  1886.  [Great  cheering.  ] 


THE  CHICAGO  VETERANS. 

THE  great  event  of  the  day  was  the  reception  tendered 
the  veterans  and  citizens  from  Chicago,  Hyde  Park,  Pull- 
man, South  Chicago,  and  the  town  of  Lake.  They  num- 
bered over  3,000,  and  arrived  in  the  evening,  after  stopping 
en  route  at  Danville,  111.,  and  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  to 
participate  in  demonstrations.  The  Chicago  contingent 
comprised  800  members  of  the  Union  Veteran  Club,  com- 
manded by  its  President,  Capt.  John  J.  Healy ;  600  mem- 
bers of  the  Veteran  Union  League,  led  by  Capt.  James  J. 
Healy;  the  Elaine  Club,  Second  Regiment  Band,  and 
many  smaller  clubs.  Leaders  in  the  delegation  were  Major 
McCarty,  Col.  Dan.  W.  Munn,  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
Jr.,  S.  W.  King,  Charles  H.  Hann,  and  others.  Hyde 
Park  sent  several  hundred  rolling-mill  men ;  the  city  of 
Pullman  200  car-builders ;  the  town  of  Lake — "  the  largest 
village  in  the  world" — was  represented  by  a  flambeau 
club,  the  Lake  View  Screw  Club,  and  numerous  other  or- 
ganizations. Their  leading  representatives  were  Col.  J. 
Hodgkins,  Judge  C.  M.  Hawley,  Hon.  John  E.  Cowells, 
Hon.  B.  E.  Hoppin,  Geo.  C.  Ingham,  Judge  Freen,  Hon. 
L.  D.  Condee,  Joseph  Hardacre,  Edward  Maher,  M.  J. 
McGrath,  A.  G.  Proctor,  Frank  I.  Bennett,  and  Col.  Fos- 
ter. 

The  visitors  were  met  by  about  10,000  citizens  and  es- 
corted to  Tomlinson  Hall.  When  General  Harrison  ap- 
peared, accompanied  by  Judge  E.  B.  Martindale,  Chair- 
man of  the  Reception  Committee,  there  ensued  a  scene 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  witnessed  it.  The  0,000 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES*.  ]  (57 

people  present  arose  to  their  chairs,  surrounding  the  visit- 
ing veterans,  all  frantically  waving  flags  and  banners. 
The  demonstration  continued  without  abatement  for  ten 
minutes.  General  Harrison  stood  as  if  dazed  by  the  spec- 
tacle. Finally  ex-Governor  Hamilton,  of  Illinois,  secured 
quiet,  and  on  behalf  of  the  veterans  addressed  the  gather- 
ing, followed  by  Judge  E.  W.  Keightly  on  behalf  of  the 
Hyde  Park  visitors. 

General  Harrison's  response  was  by  many  regarded  as 
his  greatest  speech  of  the  campaign.  He  said : 

Comrades  and  Friends — It  is  a  rare  sight,  and  it  is  one  very  full 
of  interest  to  us  as  citizens  of  Indiana,  to  see  this  great  hall  filled 
with  the  people  of  another  State,  come  to  evidence  their  interest 
in  great  principles  of  government.  [Cheers.]  I  welcome  to-night 
for  myself  and  for  our  people  this  magnificent  delegation  from 
Chicago  and  Hyde  Park.  [Cheers.  ]  We  have  not  before  in  the 
procession  of  these  great  delegations  seen  its  equal  in  numbers,  en- 
thusiasm, and  cordiality.  I  thank  you  profoundly  for  whatever  of 
personal  respect  there  is  in  this  demonstration  [cheers]  ,  but  above 
all,  as  an  American  citizen,  I  rejoice  in  this  convincing  proof  that 
our  people  realize  the  gravity  and  urgency  of  the  issues  involved  in 
"this  campaign.  [Cheers.  ]  I  am  glad  to  know  that  this  interest 
pervades  all  classes  of  our  people.  [Cheers.]  This  delegation, 
composed  of  the  business  men  of  Chicago  and  of  the  men  who 
wield  the  hammer  in  the  shops,  shows  a  common  interest  in  the 
right  decision  of  these  great  questions.  [Great  cheers.] 

Our  Government  is  not  a  government  by  classes  or  for  classes  of 
our  fellow-citizens.  [Cheers.]  It  is  a  government  of  the  people 
and  by  the  people.  [Renewed  cheering.]  Its  wise  legislation  dis- 
tils its  equal  blessings  upon  the  homes  of  the  rich  and  the  poor. 
[Cheers.]  I  am  especially  glad  that  these  skilled,  intelligent  work- 
men coming  out  of  your  great  workshops  have  manifested,  by  their 
coining,  to  their  fellow- workmen  throughout  the  country  their  ap- 
preciation of  what  is  involved  for  them  in  this  campaign.  [Pro- 
longed cheers.  ] 

May  that  God  who  has  so  long  blessed  us  as  a  Nation  long  defer 
that  evil  day  when  penury  shall  be  a  constant  guest  in  the  homes 
of  our  working  people,  and  long  preserve  to  us  that  intelligent, 
thrifty  and  cheerful  body  of  workmen  that  was  our  strength  in 
war  and  is  our  guaranty  of  social  order  in  time  of  peace !  [Great 
cheering.]  Comrades  of  the  Civil  War,  it  was  true  of  the  great 


108  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Union  army,  as  it  is  said  to  be  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven — not 
many  rich.  [Cheers.]  It  was  out  of  the  homes  of  our  working 
people  the  great  army  came.  It  was  the  strong  arm  inured  to 
labor  on  the  farm  or  in  the  shop  tha.t  bore  up  the  flag  in  the  smoke 
of  battle,  carried  it  through  storms  of  shell  and  shot,  and  lifted  it 
again  in  honor  over  our  national  Capital.  [Prolonged  cheers.  ] 

After  so  many  historical  illustrations  of  the  evil  effects  of  aban- 
doning the  policy  of  protection  for  that  of  a  revenue  tariff,  we 
are  again  confronted  by  the  suggestion  that  the  principle  of  protec- 
tion shall  be  eliminated  from  our  tariff  legislation.  Have  we  not 
had  enough  of  such  experiments?  Does  not  the  history  of  our  tar- 
iff legislation  tell  us  that  every  revenue  tariff  has  been  followed  by 
business  and  industrial  crashes,  and  that  a  return  to  the  policy  of 
protection  has  stimulated  our  industries  and  set  our  throbbing 
workshops  again  in  motion?  [Cheers.]  And  yet,  again  and  again, 
the  Democratic  party  comes  forward  with  this  pernicious  proposi- 
tion— for  it  has  been  from  that  party  always  that  the  proposition 
to  abandon  our  protective  policy  and  to  substitute  a  revenue  tariff 
has  come.  [Cries  of  "That's  so!"] 

I  had  placed  in  my  hands  yesterday  a  copy  of  the  London  News 
for  September  13.  The  editor  says  in  substance  that,  judging  the 
purposes  of  the  Democratic  party  by  the  executive  message  of  last 
December,  the  English  people  were  justified  in  believing  that  party 
meant  free  trade ;  but  if  they  \vere  to  accept  the  more  recent  utter- 
ances of  its  leader,  protesting  that  that  wTas  not  their  purpose,  then 
the  editor  thus  states  the  issue  presented  by  the  Democratic  party. 
I  read  but  a  single  sentence  "It  is,  at  any  rate,  a  contest  between 
protection  and  something  that  is  not  protection. "  [Prolonged  and 
wrild  cheering.]  It  is  not  of  the  smallest  interest  to  you  what  that 
other  thing  is.  [Continued  cheering.  ]  It  is  enough  to  know  that 
it  is  not  protection.  [Renewed  cheering.  ]  Those  who  defend  the 
present  Democratic  policy  declare  that  our  people  not  only  pay  the 
tariff  duty  upon  all  imported  goods,  but  that  a  corresponding 
amount  is  added  to  the  price  of  every  domestic  competing  article. 
That  for  every  dollar  that  is  paid  into  the  Treasury  in  the  form  of 
a  customs  duty  the  people  pay  several  dollars  more  in  the  enhanced 
cost  of  the  domestic  competing  article.  Those  who  honestly  hold 
such  doctrines  cannot  stop  short  of  the  absolute  destruction  of  our 
protective  system.  [Cries  of  "No,  no!"]  The  man  who- preaches 
such  doctrines  and  denies  that  he  is  on  the  road  to  free  trade  is 
like  the  man  who  takes  passage  on  a  train  scheduled  from  here  to 
Cincinnati  without  a  stop,  and  when  the  train  is  speeding  on  its 
way  at  the  rate  of  forty  miles  an  hour,  denies  that  he  is  going  to 


HAREISOX'S  SPEECHES.  109 

Cincinnati.  [Great  laughter  and  cheering.]  The  impulse  of  such 
logic  draws  toward  free  trade  as  surely  and  swiftly  as  that  engine 
pulls  the  train  to  its  appointed  destination.  It  inevitably  brings 
us  to  the  English  rule  of  levying  duties  only  upon  such  articles  as 
we  do  not  produce  at  home,  such  as  tea  and  coffee.  That  is  purely 
revenue  tariff,  and  is  practically  free  trade. 

Against  this  the  Republican  party  proposes  that  our  tariff  duty 
shall  be  of  an  intelligent  purpose,  be  levied  chiefly  upon  competing 
articles.  [Cheers.]  That  our  American  workmen  shall  have  the 
benefit  of  discriminating  duties  upon  the  products  of  their  labor. 
[Cheers.]  The  Democratic  policy  increases  importation,  and,  by 
so  much,  diminishes  the  work  to  be  done  in  America.  It  transfers 
work  from  the  shops  of  South  Chicago  to  Birmingham.  [Cries  of 
"Right  you  are  !"]  For,  if  a  certain  amount  of  any  manufactured 
article  is  necessary  for  a  year's  supply  to  our  people,  and  we  in- 
crease the  amount  that  is  brought  from  abroad,  by  just  so  much  we 
diminish  the  amount  that  is  made  at  home,  and  in  just  that  propor- 
tion we  throw  out  of  employment  the  men  that  are  working  here. 
And  not  only  so,  but  when  this  equal  competition  is  established 
between  our  shops  and  the  foreign  shops,  there  is  not  a  man  here 
who  does  not  know  that  the  only  condition  under  which  the  Amer- 
ican shop  can  run  at  all  is  that  it  shall  reduce  the  wages  of  its  em- 
ployees to  the  level  of  the  wages  paid  in  the  competing  shops 
abroad.  [Cheers.]  This  is,  briefly,  the  whole  story.  I  believe  we 
should  look  after  and  protect  our  American  workingmen  ;  there- 
fore I  am  a  Republican.  [Renewed  enthusiastic  cheering.] 

But  I  will  not  detain  you  longer.  [Cries  of  "Go  on!"]  You 
must  excuse  me ;  I  have  been  going  on  for  three  months.  [A 
voice,  "And  you'll  go  on  for  four  years  !"]  I  am  somewhat  under 
restraint  in  what  I  can  say,  and  others  here  are  somewhat  under 
restraint  as  to  what  they  can  appropriately  say  in  my  presence.  I 
beg  you  therefore  to  allow  me,  after  thanking  you  again  for  your 
kindness,  to  retire  that  others  who  are  here  may  address  you. 
[Great  cheering.  ] 


170  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  11. 

IN  point  of  numbers  the  greatest  day  of  the  Indiana  cam- 
paign was  Thursday,  October  11,  when  over  50,000  visitors 
arrived  from  all  points  in  Indiana  and  along  the  border 
counties  of  Ohio  to  participate  in  the  greeting  to  the 
Hon.  James  G.  Elaine,  who  was  the  guest  of  General  Har- 
rison. 

From  the  balcony  of  the  New-Denison  Hotel  General 
and  Mrs.  Harrison,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Elaine,  Gen. 
Adam  King,  of  Baltimore;  Col.  A.  L.  Snowden  and  Gen. 
D.  H.  Hastings,  of  Pennsylvania;  Col.  M.  J.  Murray,  of 
Massachusetts;  Gen.  W.  C.  Plummer,  of  Dakota;  Cor- 
poral James  Tanner,  of  New  York ;  ex-Senator  Ferry,  of 
Michigan;  Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  ex-Governor  A.  G. 
Porter,  Hon.  J.  N.Huston,  Gen.  A.  P.  Hovey,  and  Ira  J. 
Chase,  reviewed  probably  the  greatest  political  parade  ever 
witnessed  in  this  country  outside  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
Twenty-five  thousand  men  constituted  the  marching  col- 
umn, in  nine  great  divisions,  commanded  by  Col.  Charles 
S.  Millard,  Chief  Marshal,  with  Gen.  James  S.  Carnahan, 
Chief  of  Staff,  and  200  aids.  The  division  commanders 
and  principal  aids  were : 

First  Division,  Gen.  N.  R.  Ruckle,  of  Indianapolis. 
Chief  of  Staff,  Charles  J.  Many,  of  Indianapolis. 

Second  Division,  Capt.  H.  M.  Caylor,  of  Noblesville. 
Chief  of  Staff,  Major  J.  M.  Watt,  of  Delphi. 

Third  Division,  John  "W.  Lovett,  of  Anderson.  Chief 
of  Staff,  Col.  George  Parker. 

Fourth  Division,  Gen.  Tom  Bennett,  of  Richmond. 
Chief  of  Staff,  Capt.  Ira  B.  Myers,  of  Peru. 

Fifth  Division,  Col.  T.  C.  Burnside,  of  Liberty.  Chief 
of  Staff,  J.  W.  Ream,  of  Muncie. 

Sixth  Division,  Col.  J.  M.  Story,  of  Franklin.  Chief  of 
Staff,  Capt.  David  Wilson,  of  Martinsville. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES,  171 

Seventh  Division,  Col.  W.  R.  McClellen,  of  Danville. 
Chief  of  Staff,  Capt.  W.  H.  Armstrong,  of  Terre  Haute. 

Eighth  Division,  Capt.  T.  H.  B.  McCain,  of  Crawfords- 
ville.  Chief  of  Staff,  Edward  Watson,  of  Brazil. 

Ninth  Division,  Capt.  J.  O.  Pedigo,  of  Lebanon.  Chief 
of  Staff,  C.  C.  Shirley,  of  Kokomo. 

Mr.  Blaine  visited  the  Exposition  grounds  in  the  after- 
noon, where  Major  W.  H.  Calkins  introduced  him  to  an 
audience  of  about  30,000,  to  whom  he  addressed  a  few 
words.  At  night  Mr.  Blaine  delivered  one  of  hie  masterly 
speeches  at  Tomlinson  Hall  to  an  audience  of  6,000.  At 
the  close  of  the  Blaine  meeting  General  Harrison  received 
a  delegation  from  Cincinnati,  consisting  of  A.  B.  Horton, 
H.  D.  Emerson,  Wm.  Fredberger,  James  A.  Graff,  H.  R. 
Probasco,  Dr.  M.  T.  Carey,  Abram  Myer,  Fred  Pryor,  and 
Walter  Hartpense,  who  called  to  invite  him  to  attend  the 
Cincinnati  Exposition  on  "Republican  Day."  A  St.  Louis 
delegation,  members  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  also  paid  their 
respects.  Among  them  were  Col.  R.  C.  Kerens,  Col.  Nelson 
Cole,  Col.  J.  S.  Butler,  Major  W.  R.  Hodges,  Captain 
Gleason,  G.  B.  Adams,  H.  L.  Merrill,  C.  H.  Sampson,  and 
W.  B.  Gates. 

On  October  18  a  party  of  distinguished  railroad  mag- 
nates visited  General  Harrison.  They  were  Hon.  Chauncey 
M.  Depew,  J.  D.  Layng,  H.  W.  Webb,  Sam'l  Barton,  Sew- 
ard  C.  Webb,  and  C.  F.  Cox,  of  New  York;  J.  De  Koven, 
of  Chicago;  S.  M.  Beach,  of  Cleveland,  and  J.  Q.  Van 
Winkle,  of  St.  Louis. 

On  October  19  General  Harrison  received  informally  i 
150  survivors  of  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Regiment,  headed 
by  their  first  colonel,   Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  and   General 
McGinnis. 


1?2  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  13. 

Two  large  and  influential  organizations  visited  General 
Harrison  on  October  13.  From  Milwaukee  came  400  mem- 
bers of  the  Young  Men's  Republican  Club — Paul  D.  Car- 
penter, President;  George  Russell,  Secretary.  Among 
other  prominent  members  were  Samuel  Chandler,  who  or- 
ganized the  pilgrimage,  and  Walter  W.  Pollock.  Presi- 
dent Carpenter — son  of  the  late  Senator  Matt  Carpenter — 
and  C.  S.  Otjen,  a  wage-worker,  were  spokesmen  for  tjie 
club. 

The  second  and  largest  delegation  was  the  Chicago  Ger- 
man-American Republican  Club — Franz  Amberg,  Presi- 
dent ;  F.  J.  Buswick,  Secretarjr.  Accompanying  them  was 
the  Excelsior  Band  and  sixteen  voices  from  the  Orpheus 
Maennerchor  Society  of  Chicago.  Among  the  widely 
known  members  with  the  club  were  Hon.  Chris.  Mamer, 
Louis  Huck,  Peter  Hand,  Edward  Bert,  Peter  Mahr, 
Henry  Wulf,  City  Treasurer  Plantz,  K  F.  Plotke,  and 
Alderman  Tiedemann.  As  General  Harrison  entered  the 
hall  the  reception  exercises  were  opened  by  the  Maenner- 
chor Society  with  the  inspiring  hymn — "This  is  the  Lord's 
own  day."  Addresses  on  behalf  of  the  visitors  were  made 
by  Hon.  Wm.  Vocke,  Henry  Greenbaum,  and  Andrew 
Soehngen;  also,  General  Fred  Knefler  for  the  German 
Republicans  of  Indiana,  and  Hon  A.  B.  Ward,  of  Dakota. 

General  Harrison,  responding  to  both  visiting  delega- 
tions, said: 

My  Friends  of  the  German -American  Republican  Club  of  Chicago, 
and  of  the  Club  of  Milwaukee,  and  my  Home  German  Friends — I 
am  very  grateful  for  the  kind  words  you  have  addressed  to  me. 
The  long  journey  most  of  you  have  taken  upon  this  inclement  day 
to  tender  your  respects  to  me  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party  is  very  convincing  evidence  that  you  believe  this  civil  con- 
test to  be  no  mock  tournament,  but  a  very  real  and  a  very  decisive 
battle  for  great  principles.  [Cheers].  My  German-American 
friends,  you  are  a  home-loving  people ;  father,  mother,  wife,  child 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  173 

are  words  that  to  you  have  a  very  full  and  a  very  tender  meaning. 
[Cheers.  ]  The  old  father  and  mother  never  outlive  the  veneration 
and  love  of  the  children  in  a  German  household.  [Cheers.  ]  You 
have  come  from  the  fatherland  in  families,  and  have  set  up  again 
here  the  old  hearth -stones.  Out  of  this  love  of  home  there  is  nat- 
urally horn  a  love  of  country — it  is  only  the  widening  of  the  family 
circle — and  so  our  fellow-citizens  of  German  birth  and  descent  did 
not  fail  to  respond  with  alacrity  and  enthusiasm  to  the  call  of  their 
adopted  country  when  armies  were  mustered  for  the  defence  of  the 
Union.  [Cheers.  ]  The  people  of  Indiana  will  long  remember  the 
veteran  Willichand  the  Thirty-second  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volun- 
teers (or  First  German),  which  he  took  into  the  field  in  1861.  The 
repulse  by  this  regiment  alone  of  an  attacking  force  under  General 
Hindman  of  1,100  infantry,  a  battalion  of  Texas  Rangers,  and  four 
pieces  of  artillery  at  Rowlett's  Station,  in  December,  1861,  filled 
our  people  with  enthusiasm  and  pride.  Again  and  again  the  im- 
petuous Texas  horsemen  threw  themselves  with  baffled  fury  upon 
that  square  of  brave  hearts.  No  bayonet  point  was  lowered,  no 
skulker  broke  the  wall  of  safety  that  enclosed  the  flag.  [Cheers.  ] 

Your  people  are  industrious,  thrifty,  and  provident.  To  lay  by 
something  is  one  of  life's  earliest  lessons  in  a  German  home.  These 
national  traits  naturally  drew  your  people  to  the  support  of  the  Re- 
publican party  when  it  declared  for  freedom  and  free  homes  in  the 
Territories.  [Cheers.  ]  They  secured  your  adherence  to  the  cause  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  War.  They  gave  us  your  help  in  the  long 
struggle  for  resumption  and  an  honest  currency,  and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  they  will  now  secure  your  sympathy  and  help  in  this  great 
contest  in  behalf  of  our  American  homes.  Your  people  are  largely 
wage-earners.  They  have  prospered  under  a  protective  tariff,  and 
will  not,  I  am  sure,  vote  for  such  a  change  in  our  tariff  policy  as 
will  cut  off  from  their  wages  that  margin  which  they  are  now  able 
to  lay  aside  for  old  age  and  for  their  children. 

And  now  a  word  to  my  young  friends  from  Wisconsin.  You 
have  come  into  the  possession  of  the  suffrage  at  an  important,  if 
not  critical,  time  in  our  public  affairs.  The  Democratic  party  out 
of  power  was  a  party  of  negations.  It  did  not  secure  its  present 
lease  of  power  upon  the  platform  or  the  policies  it  now  supports  and 
advocates.  [Cheers. ]  The  campaign  of  1884  was  not  made"  upon 
the  platform  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.  Our  workingmen  were 
soothed  with  phrases  that  implied  some  regard  to  their  interests, 
and  Democrats  who  believed  in  a  protective  tariff  were  admitted 
to  the  party  councils  and  gladly  heard  in  public  debate.  [Cheers.] 
But  four  years  of  power  have  changed  all  this.  Democrats  who 


174  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

thought  they  could  be  protectionists  and  still  maintain  their  party 
standing  have  been  silenced  or  their  opinions  coerced.  The  issue 
is  now  distinctly  made  between  "  protection  and  something  that  is 
not  protection. "  [Cheers.  ]  The  Republican  party  fearlessly  accepts 
the  issue  and  places  itself  upon  the  side  of  the  American  home  and 
the  American  workingman.  [Cheers.]  We  invite  these  young 
men  who  were  too  young  to  share  the  glory  of  the  struggle  for  our 
political  unity  to  a  part  in  this  contest  for  the  preservation  of  our 
commercial  independence.  [Cheers.] 

And  now  to  these  friends  who  are  the  bearers  of  gifts,  one  word 
of  thanks.  I  especially  value  this  cane  as  a  token  of  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  workingmen  of  Bay  View.  [Cheers.  ]  I  accept 
their  gift  with  gratitude,  and  would  wish  you,  sir,  to  bear  in  re- 
turn my  most  friendly  regards  and  good  wishes  to  eveiy  one  of 
them.  I  do  not  need  to  lean  on  this  beautiful  cane,  but  I  do  feel 
like  resting  upon  the  intelligent  confidence  of  the  men  who  sent  it. 
[Great  cheering.  ]  I  am  glad  to  know  that  they  have  not  stumbled 
over  the  simple  problem  that  is  presented  for  their  consideration  in 
this  campaign.  They  know  that  an  increase  of  importation  means 
diminished  work  in  American  shops.  [Cheers.]  To  my  friend 
who  brings  this  beautiful  specimen  of  American  workmanship, 
this  commonly  accepted  token  of  good  luck,  I  give  my  thanks. 
But  we  will  not  trust  wholly  in  this  symbol  of  good  luck.  The 
earnest  individual  effort  of  the  American  people  only  can  make  the 
result  of  this  contest  so  decisive,  so  emphatic,  that  we  shall  not  for 
a  generation  hear  any  party  contest  the  principle  that  our  tariff  laws 
shall  adequately  protect  our  own  workingmen.  [Great  cheering.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  17. 

OHIO'S  chief  executive,  Gov.  Joseph  B.  Foraker,  es- 
corted by  the  Garfield  Club  and  the  Fourteenth  Regiment 
Band  of  Columbus,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Republican 
Mecca  on  October  17.  The  widely  known  Columbus  Glee 
Club  accompanied  them.  Among  the  prominent  Repub- 
licans with  the  delegation  were  Auditor  of  State  Poe,  Ad- 
jutant-General Axline,'  Hon.  Estes  G.  Rathbone,  C.  L. 
Kurtz,  D.  W.  Brown,  C.  E.  Prior,  L.  D.  Hogerty,  J.  W. 
Firestone,  and  Ira  H.  Crum.  Escorted  bv  the  Columbia 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  175 

Club,  the  Buckeyes  marched  to  the  residence  of  General 
Harrison  and  were  introduced  by  Governor  Foraker. 
In  response  to  their  greeting  General  Harrison  said : 

Gentlemen — It  was  very  appropriate  that  these  representative  Ohio 
Republicans  should  accompany  to  the  State  of  Indiana  your  distin- 
guished Governor,  whose  presence  among  us  to-day  is  so  welcome 
to  our  people.  We  know  his  story  as  the  young  Ohio  volunteer, 
the  fearless  champion  of  Republican  principles  in  public  debate, 
and  the  resolute,  courageous,  and  sagacious  executive  of  the  great 
State  of  Ohio.  [Applause.  ]  We  welcome  him  and  we  welcome 
you.  The  fame  of  this  magnificent  glee  club  has  preceded  them. 
We  are  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  hear  you. 

To  these  members  of  the  Garfield  Club  I  return  my  thanks  for 
this  friendly  call.  You  bear  an  honored  name.  I  look  back  with 
pleasure  to  the  small  contribution  I  was  able  to  make  in  Indiana 
toward  securing  the  electoral  vote  of  this  State  to  that  great  son 
of  Ohio,  whose  tragic  death  spread  gloom  and  disappointment  over 
our  land.  I  welcome  you  as  citizens  of  my  native  State — a  State  I 
shall  always  love,  because  all  of  my  early  associations  are  with  it. 
In  this  State,  to  which  I  came  in  my  earliest  manhood,  the  Repub- 
licans are  as  stanch  and  true,  as  valorous  and  resolute,  as  can  be 
found  in  any  of  the  States.  You  have  no  advantage  of  us  except 
in  numbers.  We  welcome  you  all  as  Republicans.  [A  voice, 
"That's  what  we  are !"]  We  believe  that  our  party  now  advocates 
another  great  principle  that  needs  to  be  established — made  fast — 
put  where  it  shall  be  beyond  assault.  It  is  a  principle  which  has 
wrought  marvellously  in  the  development  of  our  country  since  the 
war.  It  has  enabled  us  to  handle  a  great  national  debt,  which  our 
desponding  Democratic  friends  said  would  inevitably  sink  our  coun- 
try into  bankruptcy,  so  that  we  are  not  troubled  about  getting  the 
money  to  pay  our  maturing  bonds,  but  are  getting  it  faster  than 
our  bonds  mature.  We  need  to  establish  this  principle  of  protec- 
tion, the  defence  of  our  American  workers  against  the  degrading 
and  unfriendly  competition  of  pauper  labor  in  all  other  countries 
[cheers],  so  unmistakably  that  it  shall  not  again  be  assailed.  [A 
voice,  "Amen!"]  Our  Democratic  friends  in  previous  campaigns 
have  deceived  the  people  upon  this  great  question  by  uncertain  and 
evasive  utterances.  We  are  glad  to  know  that  now  they  have 
drawn  the  issue  clearly  ;  we  accept  it.  [Applause.  ]  If  we  shall  be 
able  in  this  campaign,  as  I  believe  we  will,  to  arouse  our  people  to 
the  importance  of  maintaining  our  defences  against  unfair  foreign 
competition,  we  shall  administer  those  who  believe  in  revenue  tar- 


176  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

iffs  and  in  progressive  free  trade  a  wholesome  lesson— one  that  will 
last  them  a  lifetime.     [Cheers.  ] 

I  had  resolutely  determined  when  I  came  upon  these  steps  not  to 
make  a  speech.  [Laughter  and  cries  of  "Go  on  !"]  I  am  absolutely 
determined  to  stop  now.  [Laughter.  ]  I  shall  be  glad  to  meet  the 
members  of  these  escort  clubs  personally  in  my  house.  [Three 
cheers.  J 

Later  in  the  day  about  100  survivors  of  the  Seventy- 
ninth  Indiana  Regiment,  led  by  their  first  colonel,  Gen- 
eral Fred  Knefler,  called  on  General  Harrison,  and  were 
presented  by  their  leader  in  a  brief  speech,  in  response  to 
which  General  Harrison,  speaking  from  his  doorway, 
said: 

General  Knefler  and  Comrades — I  am  always  deeply  touched  when 
my  comrades  visit  me  and  offer  their  kindly  greetings.  I  have  no 
higher  ambition  than  to  stand  well  in  the  estimation  of  my  com- 
rades of  the  old  Union  army.  I  will  not  speak  of  any  political 
topic.  These  men  who  stand  before  me  gave  the  supreme  evidence 
of  their  love  and  devotion  to  their  country.  No  man  could  give 
more  than  they  offered.  The  perpetuity  of  our  institutions,  the 
honor  of  what  General  Sherman  so  felicitously  called  the  "old 
glory,"  demand  the  country  shall  always  and  in  every  appropriate 
way  honor  and  reward  the  men  who  kept  it  a  Nation.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  our  great  prosperity  since  the  war,  and  it  can 
scarcely  be  exaggerated,  if  we  look  for  the  cause  under  God,  is  it 
not  found  in  the  stout  hearts  of  these  men?  They  have  opened  this 
wide  avenue  of  prosperity  and  honor  in  which  we  are  moving.  It 
will  be  a  shame  if  our  people  do  not  in  every  way  properly  recog- 
nize that  debt  and  properly  honor  the  men  who  gave  this  supreme 
evidence  of  their  devotion  to  the  country  and  its  institutions. 
Thanking  you  again  for  this  visit,  I  will  be  glad  if  you  will  enter 
my  house  and  let  me  meet  you  personally. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES  177 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  20. 

FOR  the  fifth  time  during  the  campaign  the  commercial 
travellers  visited  General  Harrison,  each  time  with  in- 
creased numbers.  On  Saturday,  October  20,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Commercial  Travellers'  Eepublican  Club 
of  Indianapolis — G.  C.  Webster,  President;  Ernest  Morris, 
Secretary — they  held  one  of  the  largest  and  most  success- 
ful demonstrations  of  this  remarkable  campaign.  Their 
gathering  partook  of  a  national  character,  as  large  num- 
bers of  "  drummers"  were  present  from  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Michigan,  Illinois, 
Missouri,  West  Virginia,  and  Vermont,  while  every  im- 
portant city  in  Indiana  sent  its  complement. 

The  visitors  were  received  by  a  local  committee  of  trav- 
elling men,  consisting  of  Fred  Schmidt,  Chairman;  C. 
McPherson,  Win.  Faucet,  Joseph  Stubbs,  Jeff  Cook,  Ed. 
Allcott,  J.  C.  Norris,  M.  P.  Green,  Geo.  White,  O.  W.  Mor- 
man,  Chas.  D.  Pearson,  Jeff  Taylor,  Wm.  P.  Bone,  Henry 
Ramey,  Albert  A.  Womack,  John  A.  Wright,  James  W. 
Muir,  and  Frank  Brough.  It  was  estimated  that  40,000 
spectators  witnessed  their  fine  parade,  a  conspicuous  feat- 
ure of  which  was  a  big  bull  covered  with  a  white  cloth  on 
which  was  printed  the  words — "  John  Bull  rides  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  and  we  ride  John  Bull."  On  his  back  rode 
"  Drummer  "  Dan'l  B.  Long  in  an  emerald  suit,  while  L. 
A.  Worch,  dressed  as  Uncle  Sam,  led  the  bovine.  The 
parade  was  in  charge  of  Chief  Marshal  J.  R.  Ross  and  his 
aids.  As  the  column  passed  their  residence  it  was  re- 
viewed by  General  and  Mrs.  Harrison.  Later  in  the  day 
the  visitors  were  received  at  Tomlinson  Hall.  When 
General  Harrison  appeared  a  great  demonstration  oc- 
curred. President  Webster  presided ;  the  speakers  were : 
John  E.  Dowell,  of  Boston;  R.  T.  Dow,  of  Atlanta;  C.  L. 
Young  and  John  L.  Fennimore,  of  Columbus,  Ohio ;  Chae. 


178  HARBISON'S  SPEECHES. 

P.  Banks,  of  Brooklyn;  John  L.  Griffiths  and  John  C.  Win- 
gate,  of  Indiana. 

General  Harrison  said. 

My  Friends— Your  times  already,  I  believe,  the  commercial  trav- 
ellers have  honored  me  by  calling  upon  me  in  large  delegations. 
You  have  assembled  to-day,  not  from  a  single  State  or  locality,  but 
from  many  States,  upon  the  invitation  of  your  associates  of  this 
city,  to  show  your  intelligent  interest  in  the  principles  that  are  in- 
volved in  this  campaign.  [Cheers.  ]  I  do  not  need  to  repeat  what 
I  have  said  on  former  occasions,  that  I  very  highly  value  the  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  the  commercial  travellers  of  the  United 
States.  [Cheers.]  I  value  it  because  I  believe  they  give  their 
adherence  to  the  party  whose  candidate  I  am  upon  an  intelligent 
investigation  and  upon  an  earnest  conviction  as  to  what  is  good  for 
the  country  of  which  they  are  citizens.  [Cheers.]  Who  should 
be  able,  better  than  you,  to  know  the  commercial  and  business 
needs  of  our  country?  You,  whose  hand  is  every  day  upon  the 
business  pulse  of  the  people  ;  you,  who  travel  the  country  up  and 
down  upon  all  the  swift  highways  of  commerce,  and  who  are 
brought  in  contact  with  the  business  men  of  the  country,  not  only 
in  our  great  centres  of  commerce,  but  in  all  the  hamlets  of  the 
land.  I  believe  I  may  say  for  you  that,  as  a  result  of  this  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  our  business  needs,  you  have  concluded  that 
the  policy  for  America  is  the  policy  of  a  protective  tariff.  [Great 
cheering.  ] 

There  are  doubtless  here  many  representatives  of  great  American 
manufacturing  establishments ;  and  who  should  know  better  than 
they  the  prostrating  effects  upon  the  industries  they  represent  of 
this  policy  of  a  revenue  tariff,  or  the  not  much  differing  policy  of 
free  trade?  [Cheers.]  Who  should  know  better  than  you  that  if 
the  discriminating  duties  now  levied,  which  enable  our  American 
manufacturers  to  maintain  a  fair  competition  with  the  manufact- 
urers of  other  countries,  and  at  the  same  time  to  pay  a  scale  of 
living  wages  to  the  men  and  women  who  work  for  them,  is  once 
broken  down,  American  competition  with  foreign  production  be- 
comes impossible,  except  by  the  reduction  of  the  scale  of  Amer- 
ican wages  to  the  level  of  the  wages  paid  abroad  ?  [Cheers.  ]  Cer- 
tainly you  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  that  shop  or  mill  that  has 
the  smallest  pay-roll  in  proportion  to  its  production  will  take  the 
market.  [Cheers.]  Certainly  you  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  the 
wages  now  enjoyed  by  our  American  workmen  are  greatly  larger 
and  the  comforts  thoy  enjoy  greatly  more  than  those  enjoyed  by 


HARRISOX'S  SPEECHES.  170 

the  working  people  of  any  other  land.  [Cheers.  ]  Certainly  yon 
do  not  need  to  be  told  that  if  the  American  Government,  instead 
of  patronizing  home  industries,  buys  its  blankets  for  the  public 
service  in  England  there  is  just  that  much  less  work  for  Amer- 
ican workmen  to  do.  [Cheers.]  This  is  to  me  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  the  tariff  question.  Since  I  was  old  enough  to  have 
opinions  or  to  utter  them,  I  have  held  to  the  doctrine  that  the  true 
American  policy  was  that  which  should  maintain  not  only  a  living 
rate  of  wages,  but  one  with  a  margin  for  savings  and  comfort  for 
our  workmen.  I  believe  that  policy  is  essential  to  the  prosperity 
and  possibly  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  Government  [Cheers.  ]  The 
two  propositions  that  now  stare  our  working  people— and  our  whole 
country — in  the  face  are  these  :  competition  with  foreign  countries, 
without  adequate  discriminating  and  favoring  duties,  means  lower 
wages  to  our  working  people ;  a  revenue-only  tariff,  or  progressive 
free  trade,  means  larger  importations  of  foreign  goods,  and  that 
means  less  work  in  America.  [Cheers.] 

Let  our  Democratic  friends  fairly  meet  these  two  indisputable 
conclusions.  How  do  they  do  it?  [Cries,  "They  don't;  they 
can't!"]  By  endeavoring  to  prevent  and  poison  the  minds  of  our 
working  people  by  utterly  false  and  scandalous  campaign  stories. 
[Enthusiastic  cheering.  ]  Let  me  say  in  conclusion  that  I  believe 
the  managers  of  the  Democratic  campaign  greatly  underestimate 
the  intelligence,  the  sense  of  decency,  and  the  love  of  fair  play 
which  prevail  among  our  people.  [Great  cheering.]  You  will 
pardon  further  remark.  The  evening  is  drawing  on,  and  many  of 
you,  I  am  sure,  have  been  made  uncomfortable  by  your  muddy 
walk  through  the  streets  of  our  city.  I  cannot  omit,  however,  to 
thank  my  friends  from  Lafayette  for  this  beautiful  floral  tribute 
which  they  have  placed  at  my  side — an  emblem  of  their  profession. 
[Floral  gripsack.]  I  accept  it  gratefully,  and  very  highly  appre- 
ciate it  as  a  mark  of  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  intelligent 
body  of  my  own  fellow-citizens  of  Indiana.  [Great  cheering.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  22. 

THREE  thousand  enthusiastic  citizens  of  Springfield, 
Clarke  County,  Ohio,  paid  their  respects  to  the  Republican 
nominee  on  this  date,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Republican 
White  Hat  Brigade,  Gen.  A.  S.  Bushnell,  Commander;  E. 
T.  Themes,  Vice-Commander;  S.  J.  Wilkerson,  Chief  of 


180  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Staff;  J.  W.  R.  Cline,  Sam'l  Hoffman,  and  J.  H.  Arbogast, 
Aids.  The  brigade,  comprising  2,300  voters,  each  wear- 
ing a  white  beaver  hat,  was  divided  into  three  regiments 
and  accompanied  by  six  excellent  bands. 

The  First  Regiment  was  commanded  by  Col.  J.  A. 
Dickus,  Lieut.  -Col.  Geo.  Lentz,  Major  Henry  Harper.  Sec- 
ond Regiment — Col.  Wm.  F.  Bakhaus,  Lieut. -Col.  Darwin 
Pierce,  Major  Wm.  Robinson.  Third  Regiment  —  Col. 
H.  N.  Taylor,  Lieut. -Col.  Henry  Hains,  Major  P.  M. 
Hawk.  "When  General  Harrison  entered  the  hall  every 
Buckeye  stood  on  his  chair  and  frantically  waved  his  high 
hat  in  one  hand  and  a  flag  in  the  other.  General  Bushnell 
made  the  presentation  address,  to  which  General  Harrison 
responded  as  follows : 

General  Bushnell  and  my  OJiio  Friends — The  people  of  Clarke 
County  owed  me  a  visit.  I  recall,  with  great  pleasure,  two  occa- 
sions when  I  visited  your  prosperous  county  and  the  rich  and  busy 
city  of  Springfield  to  speak  in  behalf  of  the  Republican  party  and 
its  candidates.  I  recall  with  pleasure  the  cordiality  with  which  I 
was  received  by  your  people.  [Applause.]  I  noted  then  the  intel- 
ligent interest  manifested  by  the  masses  of  your  people  in  public 
questions,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  you  rallied  to  the  de- 
fence of  Republican  principles.  [Cheers.]  We  are  glad  to  wel- 
come you  to  Indiana,  but  regret  that  this  inclement  day  and  our 
muddy  streets  have  thrown  about  your  visit  so  many  incidents  of 
discomfort.  I  hope  that  you  will  not  allow  these  incidents  to  give 
you  an  unfavorable  impression  of  the  beautiful  capital  city  of  Indi- 
ana. [Cheers  and  cries  of  "We  won't!"]  Our  people  are  glad  to 
have  this  added  evidence  of  the  interest  which  the  people  of  your 
State  take  in  the  question  which  the  issue  of  this  campaign  will 
settle.  I  say  settle,  because  I  believe  that  the  question  of  the  life  of 
the  protective  tariff  system  is  now  very  distinctly  presented.  The 
enemies  of  the  system  have  left  their  ambuscades  and  taken  to  the 
open  field,  and  we  are  to  have  a  decisive  battle  over  this  question. 
[Great  cheers.  ]  I  believe  that  never  before,  in  any  campaign,  has 
this  question  been  so  fully  and  ably  discussed  in  the  hearing  of  our 
people.  [Cheers.  ]  There  can  be  found  nowhere  in  this  country  a 
better  illustration  of  what  a  great  manufacturing  centre  will  do  for 
the  farmer  in  enhancing  the  value  of  his  farm  and  in  furnishing  a 
home  market  for  his  products  than  the  city  of  Springfield.  [Cheers.  J 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  181 

Your  city  and  county — your  merchants  and  farmers — are  prosper- 
ous, because  you  have  a  great  body  of  well-paid  wage-earners  in 
your  great  shops  and  factories.  [Cheers.  ]  It  is  the  policy  of  the 
Republican  party  to  multiply,  all  through  our  agricultural  regions, 
such  centres  of  manufacturing  industries  as  Springfield.  [Cheers.  ] 
It  is  conceded  that  to  all  our  working  people,  all  those  who  earn 
their  subsistence  by  toil,  this  campaign  involves  most  important 
interests.  I  will  not  pursue  in  its  details  this  question.  You  have 
heard  it  discussed,  and  most  of  you,  perhaps  all,  have  made  up 
your  conclusions.  It  is  of  such  importance  as,  wholly  without  re- 
spect to  the  candidate  who  may  by  chance  represent  it,  to  be 
worthy  of  the  intelligent  and  earnest  thought  and  vigorous  effort 
of  every  American  citizen.  [Cheers.  ]  Let  me  now  only  thank  you 
for  this  most  remarkable  evidence  of  the  interest  of  your  people. 
We  have  rarely,  if  it  all,  seen  here,  in  this  long  procession  of  del- 
egations, one  that  equalled  that  which  I  see  before  me  now.  [Great 
cheering.  ] 

At  the  conclusion  of  General  Harrison's  speech  Gen- 
eral Bushnell  presented  him  with  a  highly  polished  horse- 
shoe, manufactured  from  American  steel  by  S.  B.  Thomas, 
formerly  an  Englishman.  Repeated  calls  for  Mr.  Thomas 
brought  that  gentleman  out,  and  there  was  another  pro- 
longed demonstration  as  General  Harrison  cordially 
clasped  his  hand  and  said : 

I  accept  with  pleasure  this  product  of  the  skill  and  industry  of 
one  who,  out  of  his  own  experience,  can  speak  of  the  benefits  of  a 
protective  tariff.  One  who  sought  our  land  because  it  offered  bet- 
ter wages  and  better  hopes  [cheers] ,  and  who  in  his  life  here  has 
been  able  to  contrast  the  condition  of  working  people  in  England 
and  in  America.  [Cheers.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,   OCTOBER  25. 

DURING  the  campaign  in  Indiana  several  prominent 
labor  representatives  from  the  East  canvassed  the  State  in 
advocacy  of  a  protective  tariff  and  the  Republican  ticket. 
Chief  among  these  speakers  were  Charles  H.  Litchman,  of 
Massachusetts,  ex-Secretary-General  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor;  John  J.  Jarrett,  Hon.  Henry  Hall,  Eccles  Robin- 


182  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

son,  and  Robert  D.  Layton,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Jeremiah 
Murphy,  of  New  York.  These  gentlemen,  assisted  by 
John  R.  Rankin,  Marshall  C.  Woods,  and  other  prominent 
Indiana  labor  leaders,  signalized  the  conclusion  of  their 
campaign  work  by  a  notable  workingmen's  demonstra- 
tion on  October  25.  About  10,000  voters  from  over  the 
State  participated  in  the  parade,  led  by  Chief  Marshal 
John  R.  Rankin,  assisted  by  C.  A.  Rodney,  George  E. 
Clarke,  Wm.  R.  Mounts,  John  Baker,  Fred  Andler,  Wm. 
H.  Baughmier,  Geo.  E.  Perry,  Lewis  Rathbaust,  J.  N. 
Loop,  Wm.  Cook,  Gustave  Schneider,  John  W.  Browning, 
A.  Raphel,  and  Michael  Bamberger. 

General  Harrison,  with  Hon.  William  McKinley,  Jr., 
of  Ohio,  Senator  John  C.  Spooner,  of  Wisconsin,  and  Sena- 
tor Henry  W.  Blair,  of  New  Hampshire,  reviewed  the 
column  and  later  attended  a  great  meeting  at  Tomlinson 
Hall.  Many  ladies  occupied  seats  on  the  stage,  among 
them  Mrs.  Harrison.  WThen  General  Harrison  appeared, 
escorted  by  Secretary  Litchman,  the  vast  audience  arose 
and  cheered  frantically  for  full  five  minutes. 

L.  W.  McDaniels,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Typo- 
graphical Union,  presided,  and  in  his  address  among 
other  things  said : 

We  are  here  to  repudiate  the  authority  claimed  by  a  few  profes- 
sional men  to  speak  for  the  wage-workers  of  Indiana,  to  deny  the 
truthfulness  of  their  statements,  and  to  contradict  the  assertion 
that  there  is  other  than  the  kindliest  feeling  among  the  working- 
men  of  Indiana  toward  General  Harrison.  While  General  Harrison 
has  never  acted  the  blatant  demagogue  by  making  loud  professions, 
yet  we  have  had  evidence  of  his  earnest  sympathy  and  sincere  friend- 
ship on  more  than  one  occasion,  notably  his  advocacy  while  in  the 
Senate  of  the  bill  making  arbitration  the  means  of  settlement  of 
labor  troubles  and  excluding  contract  labor  from  our  shores.  Also 
the  bill  prohibiting  the  use  of  convict  labor  on  Government  works, 
or  the  purchasing  by  the  Government  of  any  of  the  products  of  con- 
vict labor. 

As  General  Harrison  arose  to  respond  there  was  another 
prolonged  outbreak ;  he  appeared  greatly  moved,  and  de- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  183 

livered  probably  his  most  earnest  speech  of  the  campaign. 
The  demonstrations  of  approval  were  very  marked,  es- 
pecially as  the  General  warmed  up  to  his  denials  of  mat- 
ters suggested  by  Chairman  McDaniels'  remarks.  He  said : 

Mr.  McDaniels  and  my  Friends — I  have  seen,  during  this  busy 
summer,  many  earnest  and  demonstrative  assemblages  of  my  fel- 
low-citizens. I  have  listened  to  many  addresses  full  of  the  kindest 
expressions  toward  me  personally  ;  but,  among  them  all,  none  have 
been  more  grateful  to  me,  none  have  more  deeply  touched  me  than 
this  great  assemblage  of  the  workingmen  of  Indiana  and  these  kind 
words  which  have  been  addressed  to  me  in  your  behalf.  '  [Great 
cheering.  J  There  are  reasons  why  this  should  be  so  that  will  read- 
ily occur  to  your  minds,  and  to  some  cf  which  Mr.  McDaniels  has 
alluded.  Early  in  this  campaign  certain  people,  claiming  to  speak 
for  the  laboring  men,  but  really  in  the  employ  of  the  Democratic 
campaign  managers,  promulgated  through  the  newspaper  press  and 
by  campaign  publications  that  were  not  given  the  open  endorse- 
ment of  the  Democratic  campaign  managers,  but  were  paid  for  by 
their  funds  and  circulated  under  their  auspices,  a  number  of  false 
and  scandalous  stories  relating  to  my  attitude  toward  organized 
labor.  [Great  and  prolonged  cheering.  ]  The  purpose  of  all  these 
stories  was  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  workingmen  against  the 
candidate  of  the  party  that  stands  in  this  campaign  for  the  prin- 
ciple of  protection  to  American  labor.  [Great  cheering.]  I  have 
only  once,  in  all  the  addresses  I  have  made  to  my  fellow-citizens, 
alluded  to  these  malicious  and  scandalous  stories,  but,  now  and  in 
the  presence  of  this  great  gathering  of  workingmen,  I  do  pronounce 
them  to  be  utterly  false.  [Tumultuous  cheering,  waving  of  flags 
and  banners,  continued  for  several  minutes.  ]  The  story  that  I  ever 
said  that  one  dollar  a  day  was  enough  for  a  workingmaii,  with  all 
its  accompaniments  and  appendages,  is  not  a  perversion  of  any- 
thing I  ever  said — it  is  a  false  creation.  [Enthusiastic  cheering.] 
I  will  not  follow  in  detail  this  long  catalogue  of  campaign  slanders, 
but  will  only  add  that  it  is  equally  false  that  anywhere  or  at  any 
time  I  ever  spoke  disparagingly  of  my  fellow-citizens  of  Irish  na- 
tivity or  descent.  Many  of  them  are  now  enrolling  themselves 
on  the  side  of  protection  for  American  labor — this  created  the  ne- 
cessity for  the  story.  [Cheers.  ]  I  want  to  say  again  that  those 
who  pitch  a  campaign  upon  so  low  a  level  greatly  underestimate 
the  intelligence,  the  sense  of  decency,  and  the  love  of  fair  play 
of  the  American  people.  [Prolonged  cheering.]  I  said  to  one 
of  the  first  delegations  that  visited  me  that  this  was  a  contest 


184  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  great  principles  ;  that  it  would  be  fought  out  upon  the  high 
plains  of  truth,  and  not  in  the  swamps  of  slander  and  defama- 
tion. [Great  cheering.]  Those  who  will  encamp  their  army  in 
the  swamp  will  abandon  the  Victory  to  the  army  that  is  on  the 
heights.  [Cheers.  ]  The  Republican  party  stands  to-day  as  the 
bulwark  and  defence  of  the  wage-earners  of  this  country  against  a 
competition  which  may  reduce  American  wages  even  below  the 
standard  they  falsely  impute  to  my  suggestion.  [Cheers.] 

There  are  two  very  plain  facts  that  I  have  often  stated — and 
others  more  forcibly  than  I — that  it  seems  to  me  should  be  conclu- 
sive with  the  wage-earners  of  America.  The  policy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party — the  revision  of  our  tariff  laws  as  indicated  by  the 
Democratic  party,  a  revenue-only  tariff,  or  progressive  free  trade 
— means  a  vast  and  sudden  increase  of  importations.  Is  there  a 
man  here  so  dull  as  not  to  know  that  this  means  diminished  work 
in  our  American  shops?  [Cheers  and  cries  of  "No,  no!"]  If  some 
one  says  that  labor  is  not  fully  employed  now,  do  you  hope  it  will 
be  more  fully  employed  when  you  have  transferred  one-third  of  the 
work  done  in  our  shops  to  foreign  workshops?  [Cries  of  "No, 
no !"]  If  some  one  tells  me  that  labor  is  not  sufficiently  rewarded 
here,  does  he  hope  to  have  its  rewards  increased  by  striking  down 
our  protective  duties  and  compelling  our  workmen  to  compete  with 
the  underpaid  labor  of  Europe?  [Cheers.] 

I  conclude  by  saying  that  less  work  and  lower  wages  are  the  in- 
evitable result  of  the  triumph  of  the  principles  advocated  by  the 
Democratic  party.  [Cheers.] 

And  now  you  will  excuse  further  speech  from  me.  [Cries  of 
"Goon!"]  There  are  here  several  distinguished  advocates  of  Re 
publican  principles.  You  will  be  permitted  to  hear  now,  I  under- 
stand, from  the  Hon.  Henry  W.Blair,  a  Senator  from  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  who  has  been  so  long  at  the  head  of  the  Commit 
tee  on  Education  and  Labor  in  the  United  States  Senate ;  and  to- 
night in  this  hall  you  will  be  permitted  to  listen  to  the  Hon.  Will- 
iam McKinley,  Jr.,  of  Ohio.  Now  will  you  allow  me  again  to 
thank  you  out  of  a  full  heart  for  this  cordial  tender  of  your  confi- 
dence and  respect.  I  felt  that  in  return  I  could  not  omit  to  say 
what  I  have  said,  not  because  you  needed  to  be  assured  of  my 
friendliness,  but  in  recognition  of  a  confidence  that  falsehood  and 
slander  could  not  shake.  I  have  not  thought  it  in  good  taste  to 
make  many  personal  references  in  my  public  addresses.  If  any  one 
thinks  it  necessary  that  a  comparison  should  be  instituted  between 
the  candidates  of  the  two  great  parties  as  to  their  friendliness  to 
the  reforms  demanded  by  organized  labor,  I  must  leave  others  to 
make  it.  [Great  cheering.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  185 


INDIANAPOLIS,  OCTOBER  27. 

THE  railroad  men  of  Indiana,  held  their  last  gathering 
of  the  great  campaign  on  Saturday  night,  October  27. 
Its  estimated  7,000  voters  participated  in  their  parade 
under  Chief  Marshal  A.  E>.  Shaw  and  Chief  of  Staff  Geo. 
Butler.  The  Porter  Flambeau  Club,  the  Harrison  Zou- 
aves, and  1,000  members  of  the  Indianapolis  Railroad 
Club — each  man  carrying  a  colored  lantern — escorted  the 
visiting  organizations.  General  Harrison  and  the  Hon. 
W.  R.  McKeen,  of  Terre  Haute,  reviewed  the  brilliant  pro- 
cession from  the  balcony  of  the  New-Deiiison  and  then 
repaired  to  Tomlinson  Hall,  where  the  General's  arrival 
was  signalized  by  an  extraordinary  demonstration.  Chair- 
man Finch  introduced  Hon.  Mathew  O'Doherty,  of  Louis- 
ville, and  A.  F.  Potts,  of  Indianapolis,  who  addressed  the 
meeting  later  in  the  evening. 

General  Harrison  was  the  first  speaker.     He  said : 

My  Friends  of  the  Railroad  Republican  Clubs — Before  your  com- 
mittee waited  upon  me  to  request  my  presence  here  to-night  I  had 
resolutely  determined  that  I  would  not  make  another  address  in 
this  campaign.  But  when  they  presented  their  suggestion  that  I 
should  meet  my  railroad  friends,  I  said  to  them — the  kindness 
which  has  been  shown  to  me  from  an  early  period  in  this  cam- 
paign by  the  railroad  men  of  Indiana  has  been  so  conspicuous  and 
so  cordial  that  I  could  not  deny  any  request  that  is  presented  in 
their  name.  [Cheers.]  And  so  I  am  here  to-night,  not  to  speak 
upon  any  political  topic,  but  only  to  express,  if  I  can  find  words 
to  express,  the  deep  and  earnest  thankfulness  I  feel  toward  you  who 
have  shown  so  much  kindness  and  confidence  in  me.  [Cheers.] 
Very  early  in  this  campaign  there  were  those  who  sought  to  make 
a  breach  between  you  and  me.  You  did  not  wait  for  my  answer, 
but  you  made  answer  yourselves.  [Cheers.  ]  And  time  and  again 
you  have  witnessed  your  faith  that  my  disposition  toward  you  and 
toward  the  men  who  toil  for  'their  living  was  one  of  friendliness, 
and  the  principles  which  I  represented  and  have  always  advocated 
were  those  that  promoted  the  true  interests  of  the  workingmen  of 
America.  [Cheers.]  I  have  always  -believed  and  held  that  the 
prosperity  of  our  country,  that  the  supremacy  of  its  institutions 


186  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  its  social  order  all  depended  upon  our  pursuing  such  a  policy 
in  our  legislation  that  we  should  have  in  America  a  class  of  work- 
ingmen  earning  adequate  wages  that  would  bring  comfort  into 
their  homes  and  maintain  hope  in  their  hearts.  [Cheers.  ]  A  de- 
spairing man,  a  man  out  of  whose  horizon  the  star  of  hope  has 
gone,  is  not  a  safe  citizen  in  a  republic.  [Cheers.  ]  Therefore  I 
would  preserve  against  unfriendly  competition  the  highest  possible 
scale  of  wages  to  our  working  people.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

I  know  the  stout  hearts,  I  know  the  intelligence,  I  know  the  en- 
terprise of  those  men  who  man  our  railway  trains  and  push  them 
at  lightning  speed  through  darkness  and  storm.  I  know  the  skill 
and  faithfulness  of  those  who  sit  at  the  telegraph  instrument, 
holding  in  their  watchfulness  the  safety  of  those  who  journey.  I 
know  the  fidelity  of  the  men  who  conduct  this  business,  which  has 
grown  to  be  a  system  as  fine  and  perfect  as  the  finest  product  of 
mechanical  art.  [Cheers.]  And  so  I  value  to-night  this  evidence 
of  your  cordial  respect ;  and  let  me  say  that  whatever  may  happen 
to  me  in  the  future,  whether  I  shall  remain  a  citizen  of  Indianap- 
olis to  bear  with  you  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  private  citi- 
zenship, or  shall  be  honored  writh  office,  I  shall  never  forget  this 
great  demonstration  of  your  friendliness.  [Prolonged  cheers.  ] 

General  Harrison's  unequalled  campaign  of  speech-mak- 
ing closed  on  the  afternoon  of  this  day  with  a  visit  from 
80  young  lady  students  of  Oxford,  Ohio,  College.  They 
were  organized  as  the  "  Carrie  Harrison  Club  of  Oxford, " 
and  their  visit  was  in  honor  of  that  distinguished  lady, 
who,  36  years  before,  as  Miss  Carrie  Scott,  graduated  from 
this  same  institution,  of  which  her  venerable  father,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  W.  Scott,  was  the  first  President.  The 
students  were  accompanied  by  President  and  Mrs.  Faye 
Walker  and  Professors  Wilson,  Fisher,  and  Dean. 

Miss  Nellie  F.  Deem,  of  Union  City,  Indiana,  the  young- 
est teacher  in  the  college,  addressed  Mrs.  Harrison  on  be- 
half of  the  school.  General  Harrison  responded  briefly  in 
a  happy  little  speech,  in  which  he  expressed  the  pleasure 
felt  by  both  over  the  visit  of  the  Oxford  young  ladies.  He 
spoke  of  their  mutual  memories  of  the  school  and  the  happy 
days  spent  in  its  charming  surroundings,  and  said  they 
both  rejoiced  in  the  prosperity  of  the  college,  noted  as  it 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  187 

was  for  its  scholarship  and  the  Christian  training  of  its 
pupils.  In  conclusion  he  thanked  them  for  their  visit,  and 
assured  them  that  the  kind  words  spoken  of  Mrs.  Harrison 
and  himself  were  fully  appreciated  and  would  be  long  re- 
membered. 


INDIANAPOLIS,    NOVEMBER  5. 

THE  last  day  of  the  great  campaign  brought  a  delegation 
of  nearly  100  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  Terre  Haute, 
Indiana,,  who  came  to  deliver  a  handsome  present  of  a 
miniature  silver-mounted  plush  chair,  designated  the 
"Presidential  Chair."  They  also  brought  Mrs.  Harrison 
a  valuable  flower-stand,  voted  to  her  at  Germania  Fair  as 
the  most  popular  lady.  In  returning  thanks  for  these 
gifts  and  their  visit  General  Harrison  said : 

Captain  Ebel  and  Gentlemen — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for 
this  friendly  visit.  It  comes  in  the  nature  of  a  surprise,  for  it  was 
only  a  little  while  ago  that  I  was  advised  of  your  intention.  I 
thank  you  for  this  gift.  It  is  intended,  I  suppose,  as  a  type,  and  a 
type  of  a  very  useful  article,  one  that  does  not  come  amiss  in  any 
station  of  life.  Only  those  who  for  months  found  their  only  con- 
venient seat  upon  a  log  or  a  cracker-box  know  what  infinite  luxury 
there  was  in  even  a  common  Windsor  chair.  We  are  glad  to  wel- 
come you  to  our  home,  and  will  be  glad  to  greet  personally  the 
members  of  this  club  and  those  ladies  who  accompany  you. 

The  General  then,  in  behalf  of  Mrs.  Harrison,  thanked 
the  ladies  for  their  present  to  her, 


188  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


THE  ELECTION,    NOVEMBER,    1888. 

IT  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  more  than  chronicle 
the  result  of  the  great  presidential  campaign  of  1888.  The 
election  fell  on  November  6.  Twenty  States  gave  the  Re- 
publican candidate  233  votes  in  the  Electoral  College,  and 
18  States  cast  168  votes  for  Mr.  Cleveland,  the  Democratic 
candidate.  The  total  vote  cast  in  the  38  States,  for  the  7 
electoral  tickets,  was  11,386,632,  of  which  General  Har- 
rison received  5,440,551.  The  Republican  electoral  ticket 
was  chosen  in  Indiana  by  a  plurality  of  2,392  votes. 

When  it  became  evident  that  General  Harrison  had  won 
the  election  a  demonstration  without  parallel  was  inaugu- 
rated at  Indianapolis  and  continued  three  days.  The  excit- 
ing street  parades  and  gatherings  witnessed  at  the  time  of 
his  nomination  were  re-enacted  with  tenfold  energy  and 
enthusiasm.  Delegations  came  from  all  points  in  the  State 
to  offer  their  congratulations,  and  10,000  telegrams  and 
letters  from  distinguished  countrymen  poured  in  upon  the 
successful  candidate.  From  an  early  hour  on  the  morning 
of  the  7th,  for  days  thereafter,  the  streets  of  Indianap- 
olis were  thronged  with  enthusiastic  visitors. 

The  first  delegation  to  call  upon  General  Harrison  after 
his  election  came  from  Hendricks  County,  numbering  400 
veterans  and  others,  headed  by  Ira  J.  Chase,  the  newly 
elected  Lieutenant-Governor,  Rev.  J.  H.  Hull,  and  John  C. 
Ochiltree.  General  Harrison  made  no  formal  response  to 
their  congratulatory  address.  On  November  9  a  delega- 
tion from  the  Commercial  Club  of  Cincinnati  arrived,  and 
at  night  the  saw-makers  of  Indianapolis — about  100  in 
number — bedecked  in  red  from  head  to  foot,  marched  with 
glaring  torches  to  the  residence  of  General  Harrison,  and 
after  a  serenade  called  upon  him  for  a  speech. 

Coming  out  on  the  steps  the  General  said : 

The  time  for  speech-making  is  over.  The  debate  is  closed,  and  I 
believe  the  polls  are  closed.  ["Right  you  are  !"]  I  will  only  thank 


HARRISONS  SPEECHES.  189 

you  for  your  call  to-night  and  for  that  friendly  spirit  which  you 
have  shown  to  me  during  the  campaign. 

A  Famous  Telegram. 

The  State  of  New  York  gave  Harrison  (Rep. )  over 
Cleveland  (Dem.)  a  plurality  of  13,074  votes;  but  for  Gov- 
ernor— at  the  same  election — the  State  gave  David  B.  Hill 
(Dem.)  a  plurality  of  19,171  over  Warner  Miller  (Rep.). 
These  opposite  results  called  forth  the  following  famous 
telegram  from  the  President-elect : 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND.,  Nov.  9,  1888. 
To  HON.  WARNER  MILLER,  Herkimer,  N.   Y.  : 

I  am  greatly  grieved  at  your  defeat.  If  the  intrepid  leader  fell 
outside  the  breastworks,  the  column,  inspired  by  his  courage,  went 
on  to  victory.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  JUNUARY  1,  1889. 

THE  installation  of  officers  by  George  H.  Thomas  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  on  the  night  of  New  Year's  Day,  '89,  was  at- 
tended by  General  Harrison,  who  for  many  years  had  been 
an  active  member  of  this  post.  Many  comrades  from  other 
posts  in  the  city  were  present.  The  President-elect  was 
escorted  by  Col.  Irvin  Robbins,  who  was  commander  of  the 
Democratic  regiment  during  the  recent  campaign,  and  Col. 
George  W.  Spahr,  who  commanded  a  Republican  regi- 
ment He  was  received  with  full  honors  by  the  retiring 
commander,  James  B.  Black,  who  presented  him  to  the 
post. 

In  response  to  their  enthusiastic  greeting,  General  Har- 
rison— speaking  in  public  for  the  first  time  since  his  elec- 
tion— in  substance  said : 

Commander  and  Comrades— It  affords  me  pleasure  to  meet  with 
you  again  on  this  occasion.  When  I  left  the  army  so  many  years 
ago  I  little  expected  to  enter  it  again,  as  I  soon  will.  Among  the 
many  honors  which  may  be  placed  on  me  in  the  future  there  will 
be  none,  I  can  assure  you,  that  I  will  esteem  more  highly  than  my 
membership  in  this  order,  instituted  by  those  who  sustained  the 


190  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

flag  of  Washington,  the  flag  of  Perry,  the  flag  that  was  baptized  in 
the  blood  of  the  Revolution  and  again  in  the  second  conflict  with 
the  mother  country ;  that  floated  over  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas, 
and  was  sustained  in  other  wars,  and  which  you  made  possible  to 
wave  over  every  foot  of  our  beloved  country.  I  esteem  it  my  great- 
est honor  that  I  bore  even  an  humble  part  with  you  and  all  the 
comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  in  bringing  about  this  most  desirable 
result.  I  wish  to  say  before  parting  with  you,  if  I  may  never  look 
upon  your  faces  collectively  again,  that  the  parting  request  I  would 
make  of  you  would  be  that  each  of  you,  without  regard  to  party 
(and  I  believe  I  can  say  this  without  offence  to  any  comrade  of  the 
Grand  Army) ,  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  as  we  did  during  the 
war,  to  preserve  a  free  and  honest  ballot.  There  is  nothing,  I  can 
assure  you,  that  will  do  more  to  preserve  and  maintain  our  insti- 
tutions than  this.  Our  country,  separated  as  it  is  by  the  great 
watery  waste,  need  have  no  fear  of  interference  by  foreign  coun- 
tries with  its  institutions  ;  nor  do  we  desire  in  any  way  to  inter- 
fere with  them.  Nor,  indeed,  is  there  any  fear  of  another  civil 
war.  The  only  fear  we  should  now  have  is  a  corruption  or  sup- 
pression of  the  free  ballot,  and  your  utmost  exertions  should  be  to 
prevent  it. 

In  concluding,  he  called  for  the  choicest  blessings  upon 
his  comrades,  saying :  "  To  each  one,  God  bless  you  and 
your  families;  God  keep  you  and  protect  you  in  your 
homes !" 


INDIANAPOLIS,   FEBRUARY  23,  1889. 
The  Departure  for  Washington. 

PRESIDENT-ELECT  and  Mrs.  Harrison  bade  their  friends 
and  neighbors  good-by  and  left  Indiana  on  February  25 
for  Washington.  Governor  Hovey,  Mayor  Denny,  and 
several  thousand  citizens  escorted  them  from  their  residence 
to  the  railroad  station.  In  the  escort  column  were  1,000 
G.  A.  R.  veterans  from  Geo.  H.  Thomas  and  other  posts, 
commanded  by  H.  C.  Allen.  Conspicuous  in  their  ranks 
was  that  distinguished  soldier-diplomat,  General  Lew 
Wallace.  The  members  of  the  Indiana  Legislature  saluted 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  101 

and  joined  the  cortege  as  it  passed  through  Pennsylvania 
Street. 

General  Harrison's  carriage  was  completely  enclosed 
within  a  hollow  square  composed  of  32  prominent  citizens — 
a  body-guard  of  honor.  The  entire  population  of  the  city 
turned  out  to  witness  the  eventful  departure,  while  numer- 
ous delegations  were  present  from  Danville,  Richmond, 
Crawfordsville,  Terre  Haute,  and  other  cities.  A  great 
throng  greeted  the  distinguished  travellers  at  the  Union 
Station.  From  the  rear  platform  of  the  special  inaugural 
train  Governor  Hovey  presented  the  President-elect  amid 
tumultuous  cheering. 

General  Harrison  was  greatly  affected  by  the  scene  and 
the  occasion.  Speaking  with  emotion  he  said : 

My  Good  Friends  and  Neighbors— I  cannot  trust  myself  to  put  in 
words  what  I  feel  at  this  time.  Every  kind  thought  that  is  in 
your  minds  and  every  good  wish  that  is  in  your  hearts  for  me  finds 
its  responsive  wish  and  thought  in  my  mind  and  heart  for  each 
of  you.  I  love  this  city.  It  has  been  my  own  cherished  home. 
Twice  before  I  have  left  it  to  discharge  public  duties  and  returned 
to  it  with  gladness,  as  I  hope  to  do  again.  It  is  a  city  on  whose 
streets  the  pompous  displays  of  wealth  are  not  seen.  It  is  full  of 
pleasant  homes,  and  in  these  homes  there  is  an  unusual  store  of 
contentment.  The  memory  of  your  favor  and  kindness  will  abide 
with  me,  and  my  strong  desire  to  hold  your  respect  and  confidence 
will  strengthen  me  in  the  discharge  of  my  new  and  responsible 
duties.  Let  me  say  farewell  to  all  my  Indiana  friends.  For  the 
public  honors  that  have  come  to  me  I  am  their  grateful  debtor. 
They  have  made  the  debt  so  large  that  I  can  never  discharge  it. 
There  is  a  great  sense  of  loneliness  in  the  discharge  of  high  public 
duties.  The  moment  of  decision  is  one  of  isolation.  But  there  is 
One  whose  help  comes  even  into  the  quiet  chamber  of  judgment, 
and  to  His  wise  and  unfailing  guidance  will  I  look  for  direction 
and  safety.  My  family  unite  with  me  in  grateful  thanks  for  this 
cordial  good- by,  and  with  me  wish  that  these  years  of  separation 
may  be  full  of  peace  and  happiness  for  each  of  you.  [Great 
cheering.  ] 


192  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

KNIGHTSTOWN,  INDIANA,  FEBRUARY  25. 

As  the  inaugural  train  sped  along  it  was  greeted  at 
every  station  by  thousands  of  cheering  spectators.  The 
first  stop  was  at  Knightstown,  where  the  Soldiers'  Orphans' 
Home  is  located.  In  response  to  their  calls  General  Har- 
rison said: 

My  Friends — I  thank  you  for  this  cordial  gathering  and  demon- 
stration. I  can  detain  the  train  but  a  moment,  and  I  only  stopped 
at  the  request  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home, 
so  that  the  children  might  have  an  opportunity  to  see  me  and  that 
I  might  wish  them  the  bright  and  prosperous  future  which  the  sac- 
rifices of  their  fathers  won  for  them.  I  bid  you  farewell. 


RICHMOND,  INDIANA,   FEBRUARY  25. 

THE  city  of  Richmond  was  reached  at  5  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  where  several  thousand  people  greeted  the  trav- 
ellers. General  Harrison  said : 

My  Friends — I  have  so  long  had  my  home  among  you  that  I  can- 
not but  feel  a  sense  of  regret  in  leaving  the  soil  of  Indiana.  I  go 
•with  a  deep  sense  of  inadequacy,  but  I  am  sure  you  will  be  patient 
with  my  mistakes,  and  that  you  will  all  give  me  your  help  as  citi- 
zens [cheers  and  cries  of  "We  will !"]  in  my  efforts  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  our  people  and  the  honor  of  the  Nation  we  love. 
I  thank  you  for  this  cordial  greeting.  [Cheers.] 


COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  FEBRUARY  25. 

AT  Piqua  the  President-elect  and  his  party  were  wel- 
comed by  Ohio's  chief  executive,  Gov.  J.  B.  Foraker,  and 
his  wife;  and,  notwithstanding  the  hour,  some  20, 000 peo- 
ple greeted  their  arrival  at  Columbus.  The  roar  of  cannon 
rendered  speaking  difficult.  Governor  Foraker  presented 
General  Harrison,  who  here  made  his  last  public  speech 
before  being  inaugurated  as  President.  He  said : 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  193 

]\ly  Fellow -citizens — I  thank  you  for  the  wonderful  demonstration 
of  this  evening.  In  these  evidences  of  the  good  will  of  my  friends 
I  receive  a  new  stimulus  as  I  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  great 
office  to  which  I  have  been  chosen.  I  beg  to  thank  you  again  for 
your  interest.  [Great  cheering.] 


WASHINGTON,  D.C.,  MARCH  4,  1889. 

GENERAL  HARRISON  and  his  family,  accompanied  by 
Hon.  James  N.  Huston,  Hon.  W.  H.  H.  Miller,  Mr.  E.  W. 
Halford,  Mr.  E.  F.  Tibbott  and  family,  Miss  Sartger,  and 
the  representatives  of  the  press,  arrived  in  Washington 
on  the  evening  of  February  26.  The  President-elect  was 
met  by  Col.  A.  T.  Britton,  Geo.  B.  Williams,  Gen.  H.  V. 
Boynton,  J.  K.  McCammon,  Gen.  Daniel  Macauley,  and 
other  members  of  the  Inaugural  Committee,  and  escorted 
to  the  Arlington  Hotel. 

The  inaugural  celebration  was  conducted  by  several 
hundred  residents  of  Washington,  acting  through  com- 
mittees. The  Executive  Committee,  having  supervising 
charge  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  celebration,  com- 
prised the  following  prominent  Washingtonians :  Alex. 
T.  Britton,  Chairman ;  Myron  M.  Parker,  Vice-Chairman ; 
Brainerd  H.  Warner,  Treasurer;  Henry  L.  Swords,  Secre- 
tary; Elmon  A.  Adams,  Joseph  K.  McCammon,  James  E. 
Bell,  James  G.  Berret,  Robert  Boyd,  Henry  V.  Boynton, 
Almon  M.  Clapp,  A.  H.  S.  Davis,  Frederick  Douglass, 
John  Joy  Edson,  Lawrence  Gardner,  George  Gibson, 
Charles  C.  Glover,  Stilson  Hutchins,  E.  Kurtz  Johnson, 
George  E.  Lemon,  John  McElroy,  Geo.  A.  Mcllhenny, 
Crosby  S.  Noyes,  Albert  Ordway,  Charles  B.  Purvis, 
MelancthonL.  Ruth,  Thomas  Somerville,  Orren  G.  Staples, 
John  W.  Thompson,  Henry  A.  Willard,  George  B.  Will- 
iams, Louis  D.  Wine,  Simon  Wolf,  Levi  P.  Wright,  and 
Hallett  Kilbourn.  General  James  Beaver,  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  Chief  Marshal  of  the  day,  and  with  a 

13 


194  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

brilliant  staff  led  the  great  column  in  its  march  to  and  from 
the  Capitol.  The  veterans  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Regi- 
ment were  accorded  the  post  of  honor  on  the  route  to  the 
Capitol,  and  on  conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  escorted  their 
old  commander  to  the  White  House.  Chief- Justice  Fuller 
administered  the  oath  of  office. 

President  Harrison  delivered  his  inaugural  address  from 
the  terrace  of  the  Capitol  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  con- 
course and  during  a  rainfall. 

THE  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

There  is  no  constitutional  or  legal  requirement  that  the  President 
shall  take  the  oath  of  office  in  the  presence  of  the  people.  But 
there  is  so  manifest  an  appropriateness  in  the  public  induction  to 
office  of  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  Nation  that  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Government  the  people,  to  whose  service  the  official 
oath  consecrates  the  officer,  have  been  called  to  witness  the  solemn 
ceremonial.  The  oath  taken  in  the  presence  of  the  people  becomes 
a  mutual  covenant ;  the  officer  covenants  to  serve  the  whole  body 
of  the  people  by  a  faithful  execution  of  the  laws,  so  that  they  may 
be  the  unfailing  defence  and  security  of  those  who  respect  and  ob- 
serve them,  and  that  neither  wealth  and  station  nor  the  power  of 
combinations  shall  be  able  to  evade  their  just  penalties  or  to  wrest 
them  from  a  beneficent  public  purpose  to  serve  the  ends  of  cruelty 
or  selfishness.  My  promise  is  spoken  ;  yours  unspoken,  but  not  the 
less  real  and  solemn.  The  people  of  every  State  have  here  their 
representatives.  Surely  I  do  not  misinterpret  the  spirit  of  the  oc- 
casion when  I  assume  that  the  whole  body  of  the  people  covenant 
with  me  and  with  each  other  to-day  to  support  and  defend  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union  of  the  States,  to  yield  willing  obedience 
to  all  the  laws  and  each  to  every  other  citizen  his  equal  civil  and 
political  rights.  Entering  thus  solemnly  in  covenant  with  each 
other,  we  may  reverently  invoke  and  confidently  expect  the  favor 
and  help  of  Almighty  God,  that  He  will  give  to  me  wisdom, 
strength,  and  fidelity,  and  to  our  people  a  spirit  of  fraternity  and 
a  love  of  righteousness  and  peace. 

This  occasion  derives  peculiar  interest  from  the  fact  that  the 
presidential  term  which  begins  this  clay  is  the  twenty-sixth  under 
our  Constitution.  The  first  inauguration  of  President  Washington 
took  place  in  New  York,  where  Congress  was  then  sitting,  on  April 
30,  1789,  having  been  deferred  by  reason  of  delays  attending  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  195 

organization  of  the  Congress  and  the  canvass  of  the  electoral  vote. 
Our  people  have  already  worthily  observed  the  centennials  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  the  battle  of  Yorktown,  and  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  will  shortly  celebrate  in  New 
York  the  institution  of  the  second  great  department  of  our  consti- 
tutional scheme  of  government.  When  the  centennial  of  the  insti- 
tution of  the  judicial  department  by  the  organization  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  shall  have  been  suitably  observed,  as  I  trust  it  will 
be,  our  Nation  will  have  fully  entered  its  second  century. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  note  the  marvellous  and,  in  great  part, 
happy  contrasts  between  our  country  as  it  steps  over  the  threshold 
into  its  second  century  of  organized  existence  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  that  weak  but  wisely  ordered  young  Nation  that  looked 
undauntedly  down  the  first  century,  when  all  its  years  stretched 
out  before  it. 

Our  people  will  not  fail  at  this  time  to  recall  the  incidents  which 
accompanied  the  institution  of  government  under  the  Constitution, 
or  to  find  inspiration  and  guidance  in  the  teachings  and  example 
of  Washington  and  his  great  associates,  and  hope  and  courage  in 
the  contrast  which  thirty-eight  populous  and  prosperous  States 
offer  to  the  thirteen  States,  weak  in  everything  except  courage  and 
the  love  of  liberty,  that  then  fringed  our  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  Territory  of  Dakota  has  now  a  population  greater  than  any 
of  the  original  States— except  Virginia— and  greater  than  the  ag- 
gregate of  five  of  the  smaller  States  in  1790.  The  centre  of  popu- 
lation when  our  national  capital  was  located  was  east  of  Balti- 
more, and  it  was  argued  by  many  well-informed  persons  that  it 
would  move  eastward  rather  than  westward.  Yet  in  1880  it  was 
found  to  be  near  Cincinnati,  and  the  new  census,  about  to  be  taken, 
will  show  another  stride  to  the  westward.  That  which  was  the 
body  has  come  to  be  only  the  rich  fringe  of  the  nation's  robe.  But 
our  growth  has  not  been  limited  to  territory,  population,  and  ag- 
gregate wealth,  marvellous  as  it  has  been  in  each  of  those  direc- 
tions. The  masses  of  our  people  are  better  fed,  clothed,  and  housed 
than  their  fathers  were.  The  facilities  for  popular  education  have 
been  vastly  enlarged  and  more  generally  diffused.  The  virtues  of 
courage  and  patriotism  have  given  recent  proof  of  their  continued 
presence  and  increasing  power  in  the  hearts  and  over  the  lives  of 
our  people.  The  influences  of  religion  have  been  multiplied  and 
strengthened.  The  sweet  offices  of  charity  have  greatly  increased. 
The  virtue  of  temperance  is  held  in  higher  estimation.  We  have 
not  attained  an  ideal  condition.  Not  all  of  our  people  are  happy 
and  prosperous  ;  not  all  of  them  are  virtuous  and  law-abiding. 


190  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

But,  on  the  whole,  the  opportunities  offered  to  the  individual  to 
secure  the  comforts  of  life  are  better  than  are  found  elsewhere,  and 
largely  better  than  they  were  here  100  years  ago. 

The  surrender  of  a  large  measure  of  sovereignty  to  the  general 
Government,  effected  by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  was  not 
accomplished  until  the  suggestions  of  reason  were  strongly  re-en- 
forced by  the  more  imperative  voice  of  experience.  The  divergent 
interests  of  peace  speedily  demanded  a  "more  perfect  union."  The 
merchant,  the  ship-master,  and  the  manufacturer  discovered  and 
disclosed  to  our  statesmen  and  to  the  people  that  commercial  eman- 
cipation must  be  added  to  the  political  freedom  which  had  been  so 
bravely  won.  The  commercial  policy  of  the  mother  country  had 
not  relaxed  any  of  its  hard  and  oppressive  features  To  hold  in 
check  the  development  of  our  commercial  marine,  to  prevent  or 
retard  the  establishment  and  growth  of  manufactures  in  the  States, 
and  so  to  secure  the  American  market  for  their  shops  and  the  car- 
rying trade  for  their  ships,  w^as  the  policy  of  European  statesmen, 
and  was  pursued  with  the  most  selfish  vigor.  Petitions  poured  in 
upon  Congress  urging  the  imposition  of  discriminating  duties  that 
should  encourage  the  production  of  needed  things  at  home.  The 
patriotism  of  the  people,  which  no  longer  found  a  field  of  exercise 
in  war,  was  energetically  directed  to  the  duty  of  equipping  the 
young  republic  for  the  defence  of  its  independence  by  making  its 
people  self-dependent.  Societies  for  the  promotion  of  home  manu- 
factures and  for  encouraging  the  use  of  domestics  in  the  dress  of 
the  people  were  organized  in  many  of  the  States.  The  revival  at 
the  end  of  the  century  of  the  same  patriotic  interest  in  the  preser 
vation  and  development  of  domestic  industries  and  the  defence  of 
our  working  people  against  injurious  foreign  competition  is  an 
incident  worthy  of  attention. 

It  is  not  a  departure,  but  a  return,  that  wre  have  witnessed.  The 
protective  policy  had  then  its  opponents.  The  argument  was  made, 
as  now,  that  its  benefits  inured  to  particular  classes  or  sections. 
If  the  question  became  in  any  sense,  or  at  any  time,  sectional,  it 
was  only  because  slavery  existed  in  some  of  the  States.  But  for 
this  there  was  110  reason  why  the  cotton-producing  States  should 
not  have  led  or  walked  abreast  with  the  New  England  States  in  the 
production  of  cotton  fabrics.  There  was  this  reason  only  why  the 
States  that  divide  with  Pennsylvania  the  mineral  treasures  of  the 
great  southeastern  and  central  mountain  ranges  should  have  been 
so  tardy  in  bringing  to  the  smelting  furnace  and  the  mill  the  coal 
and  iron  from  their  near  opposing  hillsides.  Mill-fires  were  lighted 
at  the  funeral  pile  of  slavery.  The  emancipation  proclamation  was 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  107 

heard  in  the  depths  of  the  earth  as  well  as  in  the  sky— men  were 
made  free  and  material  tilings  became  our  better  servants. 

The  sectional  element  has  happily  been  eliminated  from  the  tariff 
discussion.  We  have  no  longer  States  that  are  necessarily  only 
planting  States.  None  are  excluded  from  achieving  that  diversifi- 
cation of  pursuit  among  the  people  which  brings  wealth  and  con- 
tentment. The  cotton  plantation  will  not  be  less  valuable  when 
the  product  is  spun  in  the  country  town  by  operatives  whose  neces- 
sities call  for  diversified  crops  and  create  a  home  demand  for 
garden  and  agricultural  products.  Every  new  mine,  furnace,  and 
factory  is  an  extension  of  the  productive  capacity  of  the  State 
more  real  and  valuable  than  added  territory. 

Shall  the  prejudices  and  paralysis  of  slavery  continue  to  hang 
upon  the  skirts  of  progress?  How  long  will  those  who  rejoice  that 
slavery  no  longer  exists  cherish  or  tolerate  the  incapacities  it  puts 
upon  their  communities?  I  look  hopefully  to  the  continuance  of 
our  protective  system  and  to  the  consequent  development  of  manu- 
facturing and  mining  enterprises  in  the  States  hitherto  wholly 
given  to  agriculture  as  a  potent  influence  in  the  perfect  unification 
of  our  people.  The  men  who  have  invested  their  capital  in  these 
enterprises,  the  farmers  who  have  felt  the  benefit  of  their  neighbor- 
hood, and  the  men  who  work  in  shop  or  field  will  not  fail  to  find 
and  to  defend  a  community  of  interest.  Is  it  not  quite  possible 
that  the  farmers  and  the  promoters  of  the  great  mining  and  manu- 
facturing enterprises  which  have  recently  been  established  in  the 
South  may  yet  find  that  the  free  ballot  of  the  workingman,  with- 
out distinction  of  race,  is  needed  for  their  defence  as  well  as  for 
his  own?  I  no  not  doubt  that  if  these  men^  in  the  South  who  now 
accept  the  tariff  views  of  Clay  and  the  constitutional  expositions 
of  Webster  would  courageously  avow  and  defend  their  real  convic- 
tions they  would  not  find  it  difficult,  by  friendly  instruction  and 
co-operation,  to  make  the  black  man  their  efficient  and  safe  ally, 
not  only  in  establishing  correct  principles  in  our  national  Admin- 
istration, but  in  preserving  for  their  local  communities  the  benefits 
of  social  order  and  economical  and  honest  government.  At  least 
until  the  good  offices  of  kindness  and  education  have  been  fairly 
tried  the  contrary  conclusion  cannot  be  plausibly  urged. 

I  have  altogether  rejected  the  suggestion  of  a  special  executive 
policy  for  any  section  of  our  country.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Execu- 
tive to  administer  and  enforce  in  the  methods  and  by  the  instru- 
mentalities pointed  out  and  provided  by  the  Constitution  all  the 
laws  enacted  by  Congress.  These  laws  are  general,  and  their  ad- 
ministration should  be  uniform  and  equal.  As  a  citizen  may  not 


198  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

elect  what  laws  he  will  obey,  neither  may  the  Executive  elect 
which  he  will  enforce.  The  duty  to  obey  and  execute  embraces  the 
Constitution  in  its  entirety  and  the  whole  code  of  laws  enacted 
under  it.  The  evil  example  of  permitting  individuals,  corporations, 
or  communities  to  nullify  the  laws  because  they  cross  some  selfish 
or  local  interests  or  prejudices  is  full  of  danger,  not  only  to  the 
Nation  at  large,  but  much  more  to  those  who  use  this  pernicious 
expedient  to  escape  their  just  obligations  or  to  obtain  an  unjust  ad- 
vantage over  others.  They  will  presently  themselves  be  compelled 
to  appeal  to  the  law  for  protection,  and  those  who  would  use  the 
law  as  a  defence  must  not  deny  that  use  of  it  to  others. 

If  our  great  corporations  would  more  scrupulously  observe  their 
legal  obligations  and  duties  they  would  have  less  cause  to  complain 
of  the  unlawful  limitations  of  their  rights  or  of  violent  interference 
with  their  operations.  The  community  that  by  concert,  open  or 
secret,  among  its  citizens  denies  to  a  portion  of  its  members  their 
plain  rights  under  the  law  has  severed  the  only  safe  bond  of  social 
order  and  prosperity.  The  evil  works,  from  a  bad  centre,  both 
wrays.  It  demoralizes  those  wrho  practise  it,  and  destroys  the  faith 
of  those  who  suffer  by  it  in  the  efficiency  of  the  law  as  a  safe  pro- 
tector. The  man  in  whose  breast  that  faith  has  been  darkened  is 
naturally  the  subject  of  dangerous  and  uncanny  suggestions.  Those 
who  use  unlawful  methods,  if  moved  by  no  higher  motive  than  the 
selfishness  that  prompts  them,  may  well  stop  and  inquire  what  is 
to  be  the  end  of  this.  An  unlawful  expedient  cannot  become  a 
permanent  condition  of  government.  If  the  educated  and  influen- 
tial classes  in  a  community  either  practise  or  connive  at  the  sys- 
tematic violation  of  laws  that  seem  to  them  to  cross  their  conven- 
ience, what  can  they  expect  when  the  lesson  that  convenience  or  a 
supposed  class  interest  is  a  sufficient  cause  for  lawlessness  has  been 
well  learned  by  the  ignorant  classes?  A  community  where  law  is 
the  rule  of  conduct,  and  where  courts,  not  mobs,  execute  its  pen- 
alties, is  the  only  attractive  field  for  business  investments  and 
honest  labor. 

Our  naturalization  laws  should  be  so  amended  as  to  make  the  in- 
quiry into  the  character  and  good  disposition  of  persons  applying 
for  citizenship  more  careful  and  searching  Our  existing  laws 
have  been  in  their  administration  an  unimpressive  and  often  an 
imintelligible  form.  We  accept  the  man  as  a  citizen  without  any 
knowledge  of  his  fitness,  and  he  assumes  the  duties  of  citizenship 
without  any  knowledge  as  to  what  they  are.  The  privileges  of 
American  citizenship  are  so  great  and  its  duties  so  grave  that  we 
may  well  insist  upon  a  good  knowledge  of  every  person  applying  for 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  199 

citizenship  and  a  good  knowledge  by  him  of  our  institutions.  We 
should  not  cease  to  be  hospitable  to  immigration,  but  we  should 
cease  to  be  careless  as  to  the  character  of  it.  There  are  men  of  all 
races,  even  the  best,  whose  coining  is  necessarily  a  burden  upon 
our  public  revenues  or  a  threat  to  social  order.  These  should  be 
identified  and  excluded. 

We  have  happily  maintained  a  policy  of  avoiding  all  interfer- 
ence with  European  affairs.  We  have  been  only  interested  specta- 
tors of  their  contentions  in  diplomacy  and  in  war,  ready  to  use  our 
friendly  offices  to  promote  peace,  but  never  obtruding  our  advice 
and  never  attempting  unfairly  to  coin  the  distresses  of  other  powers 
into  commercial  advantage  to  ourselves.  We  have  a  just  right  to 
expect  that  our  European  policy  will  be  the  American  policy  of 
European  courts. 

It  is  so  manifestly  incompatible  with  those  precautions  for  our 
peace  and  safety,  which  all  the  great  powers  habitually  observe  and 
enforce  in  matters  affecting  them,  that  a  shorter  water-way  be- 
tween our  eastern  and  western  seaboards  should  be  dominated  by 
any  European  Government,  that  we  may  confidently  expect  that 
such  a  purpose  will  not  be  entertained  by  any  friendly  power.  We 
shall  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  use  every  endeavor  to  maintain 
and  enlarge  our  friendly  relations  with  all  the  great  powers,  but 
they  will  not  expect  us  to  look  kindly  upon  any  project  that  would 
leave  us  subject  to  the  dangers  of  a  hostile  observation  or  environ- 
ment. 

We  have  not  sought  to  dominate  or  to  absorb  any  of  our  weaker 
neighbors,  but  rather  to  aid  and  encourage  them  to  establish  free 
and  stable  governments,  resting  upon  the  consent  of  their  own  peo- 
ple. We  have  a  clear  right  to  expect,  therefore,  that  no  European 
Government  will  seek  to  establish  colonial  dependencies  upon  the 
territory  of  these  independent  American  States.  That  which  a 
sense  of  justice  restrains  us  from  seeking  they  may  be  reasonably 
expected  willingly  to  forego. 

It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  that  our  interests  are  so  exclu- 
sively American  that  our  entire  inattention  to  any  events  that  may 
transpire  elsewhere  can  be  taken  for  granted.  Our  citizens  domi- 
ciled for  purposes  of  trade  in  all  countries  and  in  many  of  the 
islands  of  the  sea  demand  and  will  have  our  adequate  care  in  their 
personal  and  commercial  rights.  The  necessities  of  our  navy  re- 
quire convenient  coaling  stations  and  dock  and  harbor  privileges. 
These  and  other  trading  privileges  we  will  feel  free  to  obtain  only 
by  means  that  do  not  in  any  degree  partake  of  coercion,  however 
feeble  the  Government  from  which  we  ask  such  concessions.  But 


200  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

having  fairly  obtained  them  by  methods  and  for  purposes  entirely 
consistent  with  the  most  friendly  disposition  toward  all  other  pow- 
ers, our  consent  will  be  necessary  to  any  modification  or  impair- 
ment of  the  concession. 

We  shall  neither  fail  to  respect  the  flag  of  any  friendly  nation  or 
the  just  rights  of  its  citizens,  nor  to  exact  the  like  treatment  for 
our  own.  Calmness,  justice,  and  consideration  should  characterize 
our  diplomacy.  The  offices  of  an  intelligent  diplomacy  or  of 
friendly  arbitration,  in  proper  cases,  should  be  adequate  to  the 
peaceful  adjustment  of  all  international  difficulties.  By  such 
methods  we  will  make  our  contribution  to  the  world's  peace,  which 
no  nation  values  more  highly,  and  avoid  the  opprobrium  which 
must  fall  upon  the  nation  that  ruthlessly  breaks  it. 

The  duty  devolved  by  law  upon  the  President  to  nominate  and, 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  all 
public  officers  wrhose  appointment  is  not  otherwise  provided  for  in 
the  Constitution  or  by  act  of  Congress  has  become  Very' burdensome, 
and  its  wise  and  efficient  discharge  full  of  difficulty.  The  civil 
list  is  so  large  that  a  personal  knowledge  of  any  large  number  of 
the  applicants  is  impossible.  The  President  must  rely  upon  the 
representations  of  others,  and  these  are  often  made  inconsiderately 
and  without  any  just  sense  of  responsibility. 

I  have  a  right,  I  think,  to  insist  that  those  who  volunteer  or  are 
invited  to  give  advice  as  to  appointments  shall  exercise  considera- 
tion and  fidelity.  A  high  sense  of  duty  and  an  ambition  to  im- 
prove the  service  should  characterize  all  public  officers.  There  are 
many  ways  in  which  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  those  who 
have  business  with  our  public  officers  may  be  promoted  by  a 
thoughtful  and  obliging  officer,  and  I  shall  expect  those  whom  I 
may  appoint  to  justify  their  selection  by  a  conspicuous  efficiency 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  Honorable  party  service  will  cer- 
tainly not  be  esteemed  by  me  a  disqualification  for  public  office ; 
but  it  will  in  no  case  be  allowed  to  serve  as  a  shield  for  official 
negligence,  incompetency,  or  delinquency.  It  is  entirely  credit- 
able to  seek  public  office  by  proper  methods  and  with  proper  mo- 
tives, and  all  applications  will  be  treated  with  consideration  ;  but 
I  shall  need,  and  the  heads  of  departments  will  need,  time  for  in- 
quiry and  deliberation.  Persistent  importunity  will  not,  therefore, 
be  the  best  support  of  an  application  for  office. 

Heads  of  departments,  bureaus,  and  all  other  public  officers  hav- 
ing any  duty  connected  therewith,  will  be  expected  to  enforce  the 
Civil  Service  law  fully  and  without  evasion.  Beyond  this  obvious 
duty  I  hope  to  do  something  more  to  advance  the  reform  of  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  201 

civil  service.  The  ideal,  or  even  my  own  ideal,  I  shall  probably 
not  attain.  Retrospect  will  be  a  safer  basis  of  judgment  than  prom- 
ises. We  shall  not,  however,  I  am  sure,  be  able  to  put  our  civil 
service  upon  a  non-partisan  basis  until  we  have  secured  an  incum- 
bency that  fair  minded  men  of  the  opposition  will  approve  for  im- 
partiality and  integrity.  As  the  number  of  such  in  the  civil  list 
is  increased  removals  from  office  will  diminish. 

While  a  treasury  surplus  is  not  the  greatest  evil,  it  is  a  serious 
evil.  Our  revenue  should  be  ample  to  meet  the  ordinary  annual 
demands  upon  our  treasury,  with  a  sufficient  margin  for  those  ex- 
traordinary but  scarcely  less  imperative  demands  which  arise  now 
and  then.  Expenditure  should  always  be  made  with  economy,  and 
only  upon  public  necessity.  Wastefulness,  profligacy,  or  favorit- 
ism in  public  expenditures  is  criminal ,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the 
condition  of  our  country  or  of  our  people  to  suggest  that  anything 
presently  necessary  to  the  public  prosperity,  security,  or  honor 
should  be  unduly  postponed.  It  will  be  the  duty  of  Congress  wisely 
to  forecast  and  estimate  these  extraordinary  demands,  and,  having 
added  them  to  our  ordinary  expenditures,  to  so  adjust  our  revenue 
laws  that  no  considerable  annual  surplus  will  remain.  We  will 
fortunately  be  able  to  apply  to  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt 
any  small  and  unforeseen  excess  of  revenue.  This  is  better  than  to 
reduce  our  income  below  our  necessary  expenditures  with  the  re- 
sulting choice  between  another  change  of  our  revenue  laws  and  an 
increase  of  the  public  debt.  It  is  quite  possible,  I  am  sure,  to 
effect  the  necessary  reduction  in  our  revenues  without  breaking 
down  our  protective  tariff  or  seriously  injuring  any  domestic  in- 
dustry. 

The  construction  of  a  sufficient  number  of  modern  war  ships  and 
of  their  necessary  armament  should  progress  as  rapidly  as  is  con- 
sistent with  care  and  perfection  in  plans  and  workmanship.  The 
spirit,  courage,  and  skill  of  our  naval  officers  and  seamen  have 
many  times  in  our  history  given  to  weak  ships  and  inefficient  guns 
a  rating  greatly  beyond  that  of  the  naval  list.  That  they  will  again 
do  so  upon  occasion  I  do  not  doubt ;  but  they  ought  not,  by  pre- 
meditation or  neglect,  to  be  left  to  the  risks  and  exigencies  of  an 
unequal  combat. 

We  should  encourage  the  establishment  of  American  steamship 
lines.  The  exchanges  of  commerce  demand  stated,  reliable,  and 
rapid  means  of  communication,  and  until  these*  are  provided  the 
development  of  our  trade  with  the  States  lying  south  of  us  is  im- 
possible. 

Our  pension  law  should  give  more  adequate  and  discriminating 


202  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

relief  to  the  Union  soldiers  and  sailors  and  to  their  widows  and 
orphans  Such  occasions  as  this  should  remind  us  that  we  owe 
everything  to  their  valor  and  sacrifice. 

It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation  that  there  is  a  near  prospect  of 
the  admission  into  the  Union  of  the  Dakotas  and  Montana  and 
Washington  Territories.  This  act  of  justice  has  been  unreasonably 
delayed  in  the  case  of  some  of  them.  The  people  who  have  settled 
those  Territories  are  intelligent,  enterprising,  and  patriotic,  and 
the  accession  of  these  new  States  will  add  strength  to  the  Nation. 
It  is  due  to  the  settlers  in  the  Territories  who  have  availed  them- 
selves of  the  invitations  of  our  land  laws  to  make  homes  upon  the 
public  domain  that  their  titles  should  be  speedily  adjusted  and 
their  honest  entries  confirmed  by  patent. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  observe  the  general  interest  now  being 
manifested  in  the  reform  of  our  election  laws.  Those  who  have 
been  for  years  calling  attention  to  the  pressing  necessity  of  throw- 
ing about  the  ballot-box  and  about  the  elector  further  safeguards, 
in  order  that  our  elections  might  not  only  be  free  and  pure,  but 
might  clearly  appear  to  be  so,  will  welcome  the  accession  of  any 
who  did  not  so  soon  discover  the  need  of  reform.  The  national 
Congress  has  not  as  yet  taken  control  of  elections  in  that  case  over 
which  the  Constitution  gives  it  jurisdiction,  but  has  accepted  and 
adopted  the  election  laws  of  the  several  States,  provided  penalties 
for  their  violation  and  a  method  of  supervision.  Only  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  the  State  laws  or  an  unfair  partisan  administration  of 
them  could  suggest  a  departure  from  this  policy.  It  was  clearly, 
however,  in  the  contemplation  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
that  such  an  exigency  might  arise,  and  provision  was  wisely  made 
for  it.  No  power  vested  in  Congress  or  in  the  Executive  to  secure 
or  perpetuate  it  should  remain  unused  upon  occasion. 

The  people  of  all  the  Congressional  districts  have  an  equal  inter- 
est that  the  election  in  each  shall  truly  express  the  views  and  wishes 
of  a  majority  of  the  qualified  electors  residing  within  it.  The  re- 
sults of  such  elections  are  not  local,  and  the  insistence  of  electors 
residing  in  other  districts  that  they  shall  be  pure  and  free  does  not 
savor  at  all  of  impertinence.  Tf  in  any  of  the  States  the  public 
security  is  thought  to  be  threatened  by  ignorance  among  the  elec- 
tors, the  obvious  remedy  is  education.  The  sympathy  and  help  of 
our  people  will  not  be  withheld  from  any  community  struggling 
with  special  embarrassments  or  difficulties  connected  with  the  suf- 
frage, if  the  remedies  proposed  proceed  upon  lawful  lines  and  are 
promoted  by  just  and  honorable  methods.  How  shall  those  who 
practise  election  frauds  recover  that  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  203 

ballot  which  is  the  first  condition  and  obligation  of  good  citizen- 
ship? The  man  who  has  come  to  regard  the  ballot-box  as  a  jug- 
gler's hat  has  renounced  his  allegiance. 

Let  us  exalt  patriotism  and  moderate  our  party  contentions.  Let 
those  who  would  die  for  the  flag  on  the  field  of  battle  give  a  better 
proof  of  their  patriotism  and  a  higher  glory  to  their  country  by 
promoting  fraternity  and  justice.  A  party  success  that  is  achieved 
by  unfair  methods  or  by  practices  that  partake  of  revolution  is 
hurtful  and  evanescent,  even  from  a  party  standpoint.  We  should 
hold  our  differing  opinions  in  mutual  respect,  and,  having  submit- 
ted them  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  ballot,  should  accept  an  adverse 
judgment  with  the  same  respect  that  we  would  have  demanded  of 
our  opponents  if  the  decision  had  been  in  our  favor. 

No  other  people  have  a  government  more  worthy  of  their  respect 
and  love,  or  a  land  so  magnificent  in  extent,  so  pleasant  to  look 
upon,  and  so  full  of  generous  suggestion  to  enterprise  and  labor. 
God  has  placed  upon  our  head  a  diadem,  and  has  laid  at  our  feet 
power  and  wealth  beyond  definition  or  calculation.  But  we  must 
not  forget  that  we  take  these  gifts  upon  the  condition  that  justice 
and  mercy  shall  hold  the  reins  of  power,  and  that  the  upward  ave- 
nues of  hope  shall  be  free  to  all  the  people. 

I  do  not  mistrust  the  future.  Dangers  have  been  in  frequent  am- 
bush along  our  path,  but  we  have  uncovered  and  vanquished  them 
all.  Passion  has  swept  some  of  our  communities,  but  only  to  give 
us  a  new  demonstration  that  the  great  body  of  our  people  are  stable, 
patriotic,  and  law-abiding.  No  political  party  can  long  pursue  ad- 
vantage at  the  expense  of  public  honor  or  by  rude  and  indecent 
methods,  without  protest  and  fatal  disaffection  in  its  own  body. 
The  peaceful  agencies  of  commerce  are  more  fully  revealing  the 
necessary  unity  of  all  our  communities,  and  the  increasing  inter- 
course of  our  people  is  promoting  mutual  respect.  We  shall  find 
unalloyed  pleasure  in  the  revelation  which  our  next  census  will 
make  of  the  swift  development  of  the  great  resources  of  some  of  the 
States.  Each  State  will  bring  its  generous  contribution  to  the  great 
aggregate  of  the  Nation's  increase.  And  when  the  harvest  from 
the  fields,  the  cattle  from  the  hills,  and  the  ores  of  the  earth  shall 
have  been  weighed,  counted,  and  valued,  we  will  turn  from  them 
all  to  crown  with  the  highest  honor  the  State  that  has  most  pro- 
moted education,  virtue,  justice,  and  patriotism  among  the  people. 


204  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

NEW  YOEK  CITY,  APRIL  30,   1889. 
The  Nation's  Centenary. 

THE  celebration,  at  the  city  of  New  York,  of  the  one 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  inauguration  of  George 
Washington  as  first  President  of  the  United  States  was 
more  than  national  in  its  scope  and  influence.  The  people 
of  the  entire  continent  manifested  a  gratifying  interest  in 
it,  and  no  event  in  our  history  has  been  commemorated 
with  greater  success.  The  occasion  called  together  more 
than  two  million  people  within  the  gateways  of  the  great 
metropolis,  many  of  them  our  most  distinguished  and  rep- 
resentative citizens.  The  celebration  was  conducted  under 
the  auspices  of  one  hundred  prominent  citizens,  organ- 
ized as  a  general  committee,  of  which  the  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish  was  President;  Mayor  Hugh  J.  Grant,  Chairman; 
Hon.  Elbridge  T.  Gerry,  Chairman  Executive  Committee ; 
and  Clarence  W.  Bowen,  Secretary. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  April  29  the  President,  accom- 
panied by  Mrs.  Harrison,  Mrs.  J.  R.  McKee,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Russell  B.  Harrison,  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  Chief 
Justice  and  Mrs.  Fuller,  Justice  and  Mrs.  Field,  Justice 
Blatchford,  Justice  Strong,  Major-General  Schofield*  Mr. 
Walker  Blame  and  Miss  Blaine,  Col.  Thos.  F.  Barr,  Lieut. 
T.  B.  M.  Mason  and  Mrs.  Mason,  left  Washington  by  special 
train  tendered  by  President  Geo.  R.  Roberts  and  Vice- 
President  Frank  Thomson,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company. 
The  distinguished  guests  were  escorted  by  the  following 
members  of  the  Centennial  Committee  designated  for  this 
honorable  duty :  John  A.  King,  Chairman ;  John  Jay, 
Edward  Cooper,  Wm.  H.  Wickham,  Wm.  R.  Grace,  Fred- 
erick J.  DePeyster,  Wm.  H.  Robertson,  Cornelius  Vander- 
bilt,  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  Frank  Hiscock,  Seth  Low,  Orlando 
B.  Potter,  Clifford  S.  Sims,  Jas.  Duane  Livingston,  and 
Frank  S.  Witherbee. 

At  Trenton  the  party  was  met  by  the  New  Jersey  Cen- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  205 

tennial  Committee,  consisting  of  Governor  Green,  General 
Sewell,  Rev.  Dr.  Hamill,  Colonel  Stockton,  General  Grubb, 
Colonel  Donnelly,  Captain  Skirm,  Senator  Cramner,  Sen- 
ator Cattell,  Colonel  Chambers,  and  others. 

Arrived  at  Elizabeth  the  President  breakfasted  with 
Governor  Green  and  then  held  a  reception,  conducted  by 
Col.  Rob't  S.  Green,  assisted  by  Col.  Suydam,  Chas.  G. 
Parkhurst,  and  John  L.  Boggs.  Following  the  route  taken 
by  Washington,  President  Harrison  and  his  party  em- 
barked at  Elizabethport  on  board  the  U.  S.  S.  Despatch, 
and,  escorted  by  a  magnificent  fleet  of  war  ships,  merchant 
marine,  and  craft  of  all  kinds,  proceeded  up  the  Kills  to 
the  bay  amid  the  roar  of  cannon  from  the  several  forts  and 
the  men-of-war. 

At  the  gangway  of  the  Despatch  the  President  was  re- 
ceived by  Jackson  S.  Schultz  and  the  following  gentlemen, 
comprising  the  Committee  on  Navy:  John  S.  Barnes, 
George  G.  Haven,  D.  Willis  James,  Frederick  R.  Coudert, 
Capt.  Henry  Erben,  Ogden  Goelet,  John  Jay  Pierrepont, 
Loyall  Farragut,  Alfred  C.  Cheney,  Buchanan  Winthrop, 
and  S.  Nicholson  Kane.  Other  distinguished  guests  on 
the  Despatch  were  Gov.  David  B.  Hill,  Gen.  William  T. 
Sherman,  Admiral  David  D.  Porter,  Commodore  Ramsey, 
and  Jas.  M.  Varnum.  Several  hundred  thousand  patriotic 
people  greeted  the  Despatch  as  she  proudly  entered  the 
harbor.  The  scene  was  a  most  memorable  one. 

Following  the  example  of  Washington,  President  Harri- 
son was  rowed  ashore  in  a  barge,  landing  at  Pier  1C,  where 
he  was  met  by  the  venerable  Hamilton  Fish,  who  welcomed 
him  to  New  York.  Proceeding  to  the  Equitable  Building, 
the  President  was  tendered  a  reception  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Lawyers'  Club,  followed  by  a  banquet  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Committee  on  States,  consisting  of  the  following  dis- 
tinguished citizens:  William  G.  Hamilton,  Chairman; 
James  C.  Carter,  John  Schuyler,  J.T.  Van  Rensselaer,  James 
W.  Husted,  Theo.  Roosevelt,  Jacob  A.  Cantor,  E.  Ellery 


206  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Anderson,  Floyd  Clarkson,  Henry  W.  LeRoy,  John  B. 
Pine,  Samuel  Borrowe,  and  Jas.  M.  Montgomery.  Among 
the  guests — other  than  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  the 
other  prominent  gentlemen  who  accompanied  the  President 
on  the  Despatch — were  ex-President  R.  B.  Hayes  and  the 
Governors  of  thirty -five  States. 

At  night  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  attended  the 
grand  centennial  ball  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  at 
which  6,000  guests  were  present.  This  brilliant  entertain- 
ment, rendered  memorable  by  the  presence  of  so  many  dis- 
tinguished people,  was  given  under  the  auspices  of  a 
committee  composed  of  the  following  society  leaders: 
Stuyvesant  Fish,  Chairman;  William  Waldorf  Astor, 
William  K.  Yanderbilt,  William  Jay,  Egerton  L.  Win- 
throp,  Robert  Goelet,  Wm.  B.  Beekman,  Stephen  H.  Olin, 
Wm.  E.  D.  Stokes,  and  Gouverneur  Morris. 

The  morning  of  the  30th  —  Centennial  Day  —  the 
President,  members  of  his  Cabinet,  with  ex- Presidents 
Cleveland  and  Hayes,  Governor  Hill,  and  many  other 
noted  guests,  attended  thanksgiving  services  at  St.  Paul's 
Church.  The  President  and  his  family  occupied  the 
Washington  pew.  The  exercises  were  conducted  by  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  Bishop  of  New  York.  The 
literary  exercises  were  held  on  the  steps  of  the  sub-Treas- 
ury, where  General  Washington  took  his  oath  of  office  a 
hundred  years  before.  Countless  thousands  surrounded  the 
speaker's  stand  and  congregated  in  the  vicinity.  Elbridge 
T.  Gerry  presided  and  introduced  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs, 
who  delivered  the  invocation.  Secretary  Bowen  read  a 
poem  entitled  "  The  Vow  of  Washington, "  composed  for 
the  occasion  by  the  venerable  John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 
Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  then  delivered  the  Centennial 
oration.  On  conclusion,  Chairman  Gerry  introduced 
President  Harrison,  who  was  greeted  with  a  grand  out- 
burst as  he  advanced  to  the  front.  Amid  repeated  in- 
terruptions with  cheers  he  spoke  as  follows : 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  207 

Mr.  Chairman,  my  Countrymen — Official  duty  of  a  very  exacting 
character  has  made  it  quite  impossible  that  I  should  deliver  an  ad- 
dress on  this  occasion.  Foreseeing  this,  I  early  notified  your  com- 
mittee that  the  programme  must  not  contain  any  address  by  me.  The 
selection  of  Mr.  Depew  as  the  orator  of  this  occasion  makes  further 
speech  not  only  difficult,  but  superfluous.  He  has  met  the  demand 
of  this  great  occasion  on  its  own  high  level.  He  has  brought  be- 
fore us  the  incidents  and  the  lessons  of  the  first  inauguration  of 
Washington.  We  seem  to  have  been  a  part  of  that  admiring  and 
almost  adoring  throng  that  filled  these  streets  one  hundred  years  ago. 

We  have  come  into  the  serious,  but  always  inspiring,  presence 
of  Washington.  He  was  the  incarnation  of  duty,  and  he  teaches 
us  to-day  this  great  lesson  .  That  those  who  would  associate  their 
names  with  events  that  shall  outlive  a  century  can  only  do  so  by 
high  consecration  to  duty.  Self-seeking  has  no  public  observance 
or  anniversary.  The  captain  who  gives  to  the  sea  his  cargo  of  goods, 
that  he  may  give  safety  and  deliverance  to  his  imperilled  fellow  - 
men,  has  fame;  he  who  lands  the  cargo  has  only  wages.  Washing- 
ton seemed  to  come  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  high  office 
impressed  with  a  great  sense"  of  his  unfamiliarity  with  these  new 
calls  thrust  upon  him,  modestly  doubtful  of  his  own  ability,  but 
trusting  implicitly  in  the  sustaining  helpfulness  and  grace  of  that 
God  who  rules  the  world,  presides  in  the  councils  of  nations,  and 
is  able  to  supply  every  human  defect.  We  have  made  marvellous 
progress  in  material  things  since  then,  but  the  stately  and  enduring 
shaft  that  we  have  erected  at  the  national  capital  at  Washington 
symbolizes  the  fact  that  he  is  still  the  First  American  Citizen. 
[Cheers.  ] 

The  Great  Military  Parade  and  Banquet. 

On  conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  at  the  sub-Treasury  the 
President  and  other  honored  guests  of  the  day  reviewed 
the  grand  military  parade  from  a  stand  in  Madison  Square. 
Along  the  line  of  march,  especially  on  Broadway  and 
Fifth  Avenue,  for  several  miles  the  gorgeous  pageant 
moved  between  two  living  walls.  Never  were  so  many 
people  congregated  on  this  continent.  The  glittering 
column,  commanded  by  General  Schofield,  moved  with 
continuous  precision,  and  was  five  hours  and  twenty-five 
minutes  in  passing  the  reviewing  stand.  The  President 


208  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

remained  at  his  post,  saluting  the  last  company.  The 
troops  of  the  various  States  were  led  by  their  Governors. 

This  monster  military  demonstration  and  the  great  in- 
dustrial parade  of  the  day  following  were  conducted  under 
the  management  of  a  committee  comprising  the  following 
well-known  gentlemen :  S.  Van  Rensselaer  Cruger,  Chair- 
man; John  Cochrane,  Locke  W.  Winchester,  J.  Hampden 
Robb,  Frederick  Gallatin,  Frederick  D.  Tappen,  and  John 
C.  Tomlinson. 

The  President's  visit  concluded  with  his  participation 
in  the  greatest  banquet  known  to  modern  times,  held  at 
the  Metropolitan  Opera  House.  The  lavish  decorations, 
the  magnitude  and  occasion  of  the  entertainment  have 
rendered  it  historical.  Eight  hundred  guests  were  seated 
at  the  tables,  while  the  surrounding  boxes  and  stalls  were 
overflowing  with  distinguished  ladies  eagerly  partaking  of 
the  feast  of  reason.  Mayor  Grant  presided,  and  intro- 
duced Governor  Hill,  who  welcomed  the  guests.  Ex- 
President  Cleveland  responded  to  the  toast  "  Our  People; " 
Gov.  Fitzhugh  Lee,  of  Virginia,  spoke  to  "  The  States ; " 
Chief -Justice  Fuller  responded  to  "  The  Federal  Constitu- 
tion;" Hon.  John  W.  Daniel  spoke  to  "The  Senate;"  ex- 
President  Hayes  to  "The  Presidency."  Among  other 
prominent  guests  were  Vice-President  Morton,  General 
Sherman,  Lieutenant- Governor  Jones, of  New  York,  Judge 
Charles  Andrews,  Hon.  Hannibal  Hamlin,  Mayor  Chapin, 
of  Brooklyn,  Governor  Foraker,  of  Ohio,  Abram  S.  Hewitt, 
Cornelius  K  Bliss,  Fred'k  S.  Tallmadge,  Samuel  D.  Bab- 
cock,  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  Erastus  Wiman,  Charles  W. 
Dayton,  Josiah  M.  Fisk,  William  Henry  Smith,  Thomas 
S.  Moore,  Henry  Clews,  Austin  Corbin,  Philip  L.  Living- 
ston, Bray  ton  Ives,  Darius  O.  Mills,  Richard  T.  Wilson, 
William  L.  Strong,  Henry  B.  Hyde,  James  M.  Brown, 
Louis  Fitzgerald,  Allan  Campbell,  John  Sloane,  James  D. 
Smith,  Edward  V.  Loew,  Eugene  Kelly,  Walter  Stanton, 
John  F.  Plummer,  J.  Edward  Simmons,  John  Jay  Kiiox, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  209 

Do  Lancey  Nicoll,  Henry  G.  Marquand,  Gordon  L.  Ford, 
Daniel  Huntington,  F.  Hopkinson  Smith,  William  E. 
Dodge,  Chas.  Parsons,  A.  W.  Drake,  Oliver  H.  Perry, 
Frank  D.  Millet,  H.  H.  Boyesen,  Charles  Henry  Hart, 
Rutherford  Stuyvesant,  John  L.  Cadwalader,  Lispenard 
Stewart,  Chas.  H.  Russell,  Jr. ,  and  Richard  W.  Gilder. 

After  the  Chief-Justice's  address  President  Harrison 
was  introduced  and  received  with  a  storm  of  applause. 
He  spoke  to  the  toast  "  The  United  States  of  America"  as 
follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow -citizens — I  should  be  unjust  to  myself, 
and,  what  is  more  serious,  I  should  be  unjust  to  you,  if  I  did  not  at 
this  first  and  last  opportunity  express  to  you  the  deep  sense  of  ob- 
ligation and  thankfulness  which  I  feel  for  these  many  personal  and 
official  courtesies  which  have  been  extended  to  me  since  I  came  to 
take  part  in  this  celebration.  The  official  representatives  of  the 
State  of  New  York  and  of  this  great  city  have  attended  me  with 
the  most  courteous  kindness,  omitting  no  attention  that  could  make 
my  stay  among  you  pleasant  and  gratifying.  From  you  and  at  the 
hands  of  those  who  have  thronged  the  streets  of  the  city  to-day  I 
have  received  the  most  cordial  expressions  of  good  will.  I  would 
not,  however,  have  you  understand  that  these  loud  acclaims  have 
been  in  any  sense  appropriated  as  a  personal  tribute  to  myself.  I 
have  realized  that  there  was  that  in  this  occasion  and  all  these  in- 
teresting incidents  which  have  made  it  so  profoundly  impressive 
to  my  mind  which  was  above  and  greater  than  any  living  man.  I 
have  realized  that  the  tribute  of  cordial  interest  which  you  have 
manifested  was  rendered  to  that  great  office  which,  by  the  favor  of 
a  greater  people,  I  now  exercise,  rather  than  to  me. 

The  occasion  and  all  of  its  incidents  will  be  memorable  not  only 
in  the  history  of  your  own  city,  but  in  the  history  of  our  country. 
New  York  did  not  succeed  in  retaining  the  seat  of  national  govern- 
ment here,  although  she  made  liberal  provision  for  the  assem- 
bling of  the  first  Congress  in  the  expectation  that  the  Congress  might 
find  its  permanent  home  here.  But  though  you  lost  that  which  you 
coveted,  I  think  the  representatives  here  of  all  the  States  will  agree 
that  it  was  fortunate  that  the  first  inauguration  of  Washington 
took  place  in  the  State  and  the  city  of  New  York. 

For  where  in  our  country  could  the  centennial  of  the  event  be  so 
worthily  celebrated  as  here?  What  seaboard  offered  so  magnificent 
a  bay  on  which  to  display  our  merchant  and  naval  marine?  What 


210  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

city  offered  thoroughfares  so  magnificent,  />r  a  people  so  great,  so 
generous,  as  New  York  has  poured  out  to-day  to  celebrate  that 
event  ? 

I  have  received  at  the  hands  of  the  committee  who  have  been 
charged  with  the  details — onerous,  exacting,  and  too  often  unthank- 
ful— of  this  demonstration  evidence  of  their  confidence  in  my  phys- 
ical endurance,  [Laughter.] 

I  must  also  acknowledge  still  one  other  obligation.  The  commit- 
tee having  in  charge  the  exercises  of  this  event  have  also  given  me 
another  evidence  of  their  confidence,  which  has  been  accompanied 
•with  some  embarrassment.  As  I  have  noticed  the  progress  of  this 
banquet,  it  seemed  to  me  that  each  of  the  speakers  had  been  made 
acquainted  with  his  theme  before  he  took  his  seat  at  the  banquet, 
and  that  I  alone  was  left  to  make  acquaintance  with  my  theme 
wrhen  I  sat  down  to  the  table.  I  prefer  to  substitute  for  the  official 
title  which  is  upon  the  programme  the  familiar  and  fireside  ex- 
pression, "Our  Country." 

I  congratulate  you  to-day,  as  one  of  the  instructive  and  interest- 
ing features  of  this  occasion,  that  these  great  thoroughfares  dedi- 
cated to  trade  have  closed  their  doors  and  covered  up  the  insignias 
of  commerce  ;  that  your  great  exchanges  have  closed  and  your  cit- 
izens given  themselves  up  to  the  observance  of  the  celebration  in 
which  we  are  participating. 

I  believe  that  patriotism  has  been  intensified  in  many  hearts  by 
•what  we  have  witnessed  to-day.  I  believe  that  patriotism  has  been 
placed  in  a  higher  and  holier  fane  in  many  hearts.  The  bunting 
with  which  you  have  covered  your  walls,  these  patriotic  inscrip- 
tions, must  go  down  and  the  wage  and  trade  be  resumed  again. 
Here  may  I  not  ask  you  to  carry  those  inscriptions  that  now  liang 
on  the  walls  into  your  homes,  into  the  schools  of  your  city,  into 
all  of  your  great  institutions  where  children  are  gathered,  and 
teach  them  that  the  eye  of  the  young  and  the  old  should  look  upon 
that  flag  as  one  of  the  familiar  glories  of  every  American?  Have 
we  not  learned  that  no  stocks  and  bonds,  nor  land,  is  our  country? 
It  is  a  spiritual  thought  that  is  in  our  minds — it  is  the  flag  and 
what  it  stands  for ;  it  is  the  fireside  and  the  home ;  it  is  the 
thoughts  that  are  in  our  hearts,  born  of  the  inspiration  which 
comes  with  the  story  of  the  flag,  of  martyrs  to  liberty.  It  is  the 
graveyard  into  which  a  common  country  has  gathered  the  uncon- 
scious deeds  of  those  who  died  that  the  thing  might  live  which  we 
love  and  call  our  country,  rather  than  anything  that  can  be  touched 
or  seen. 

Let  me  add  a  thought  due  to  our  country's  future.     Perhaps 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  211 

never  have  we  been  so  well  equipped  for  war  upon  land  as  now, 
and  we  have  never  seen  the  time  when  our  people  were  more  smit- 
ten with  the  love  of  peace.  To  elevate  the  morals  of  our  people  ; 
to  hold  up  the  law  as  that  sacred  thing  which,  like  the  ark  of  God 
of  old,  may  not  be  touched  by  irreverent  hands,  but  frowns  upon 
any  attempt  to  dethrone  its  supremacy  ;  to  unite  our  people  in  all 
that  makes  home  comfortable,  as  well  as  to  give  our  energies 
in  the  direction  of  material  advancement,  this  service  may  we 
render.  And  out  of  this  great  demonstration  let  us  draw  lessons  to 
inspire  us  to  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to  this  love  and  service  of 
our  country. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  22,  1889. 
Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Monument. 

A  MEMORABLE  event  in  the  history  of  Indiana  was  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Monument  at  Indianapolis  on  August  22,  1889.  The 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  the  erection  of  the  monument — 
under  whose  supervision  the  attendant  exercises  were  con- 
ducted— comprised :  George  J.  Langsdale,  of  Greencastle, 
President;  Geo.  W.  Johnston,  of  Indianapolis,  Secretary; 
T.  W.  Bennett,  of  Richmond;  S.  B.  Voyles,  of  Salem;  and 
D.  C.  McCollum,  of  La  Porte. 

President  Harrison  and  his  party  were  honored  guests 
on  the  occasion ;  he  was  accompanied  by  Secretary  Jere- 
miah M.  Rusk,  Attorney- General  W.  H.  H.  Miller,  Private 
Secretary  E.  W.  Halford,  Capt.  William  M.  Meredith, 
Marshal  Daniel  M.  Ransdell,  and  General  Thomas  J. 
Morgan. 

At  College  Corner,  on  the  Indiana  border,  the  President 
was  met  by  Gov.  Alvin  P.  Hovey,  Mayor  Caleb  S.  Denny, 
Hon.  William  H.  English,  William  Scott,  John  P.  Fren- 
zel,  Robert  S.  McKee,  J.  A.  Wildman,  Albert  Gall,  Dr. 
Henry  Jameson,  and  others,  comprising  an  honorary  escort 
committee.  Governor  Hovey  welcomed  the  President  to 
Indiana  in  a  brief,  cordial  address,  to  which  President 
Harrison  responded: 


212  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

I  thank  the  Governor  for  this  larger  welcome  extended  as  Gov- 
ernor on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  whole  State.  You  have  well 
said  that  the  people  of  Indiana  have  been  kind  to  me,  and  if, 
•when  my  public  career  is  ended,  I  can  return  to  you  the  happy 
possessor  of  your  respect  and  good- will,  I  shall  not  leave  public 
office  with  regret. 

Arriving  at  Indianapolis  on  the  evening  of  the  21st, 
the  President  was  formally  waited  upon  by  the  Monu- 
ment Commissioners  and  Board  of  Trade  Reception 
Committee.  General  James  R.  Carnahan,  on  behalf  of 
the  Commissioners,  and  George  G.  Tanner,  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  warmly  welcomed  him. 

To  their  addresses  President  Harrison  replied : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Committees  and  Friends — I  scarcely  know  how 
to  convey  to  you  my  deep  impressions  at  this  cordial  welcome  back 
to  Indianapolis.  I  cannot  hope  to  do  it.  I  have  been  deeply 
touched  by  this  generous  and  courteous  reception.  It  was  not  my 
expectation  when  I  left  Indianapolis  a  few  months  ago,  under  so 
serious  a  sense  of  my  responsibilities,  that  I  would  return  again  so 
soon  to  my  home.  But  this  occasion  was  one  which  I  could  not 
well  be  absent  from.  It  is  one  that  should  enlist  to  a  degree  that 
nothing  else  can  do  our  patriotic  interests  and  State  pride.  It  is 
true,  as  General  Carnahan  has  said,  that  I  took  an  early  interest 
in  this  movement.  I  felt  that  until  this  monument  was  built, 
until  its  top- stone  was  laid,  and  its  voice  had  been  heard  by  the  peo- 
ple of  this  State  in  expressive  speech,  we  had  not  done  that  for  our 
soldier  dead  which  we  should,  and  that  we  had  neglected  those 
who  died  for  us.  I  am  glad,  therefore,  to  be  present  and  see  this 
monument  started.  I  reverently  rejoice  with  you  on  this  occasion, 
and  hail  the  work  which  these  commissioners  have  so  wisely  and 
magnificently  begun. 

Among  other  distinguished  guests  participating  in  the 
ceremonies  were  Mrs.  Jennie  Meyerhoff,  of  Evansville, 
President  of  the  Woman's  Relief  Corps,  Department  of 
Indiana;  Col.  George  C.  Harvey,  of  Danville,  commanding 
the  Sons  of  Veterans,  Division  of  Indiana;  Mrs.  Zelda 
Seguin- Wall  ace  and  Miss  Laura  McManis,  Indianapolis; 
Miss  Kate  Hammond,  Greencastle,  and  Rev.  H.  J.  Talbott. 

The  march  to  the  monument  was  one  of  the  most  impos- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  213 

ing  demonstrations  ever  witnessed  in  Indiana.  Fifteen 
thousand  veterans  and  others  formed  the  great  column, 
commanded  by  Chief  Marshal  Charles  A.  Zollinger,  of  Fort 
Wayne;  Chief  of  Staff,  Major  Irvin  Bobbins ;  Adjutant- 
General,  Major  Wilbur  F.  Hitt,  assisted  by  a  brilliant 
staff  of  60  prominent  citizens.  In  addition  to  these  offi- 
cers of  the  day  was  a  mounted  honorary  staff,  representing 
the  thirteen  Congressional  districts.  They  were :  First 
District,  Gil  R.  Stormont,  Princeton ;  Second,  Col.  Elijah 
Cavens,  Bloomfield ;  Third,  Capt.  James  B.  Patton,  Jef- 
fersonville;  Fourth,  Marine  D.  Tackett,  Greensburg; 
Fifth,  Maj.  J.  G.  Dunbar,  Greencastle;  Sixth,  Maj.  J.  F. 
Wildman,  Muncie;  Seventh,  Capt.  D.  W.  Hamilton, 
Indianapolis;  Eighth,  Capt.  A.  C.  Ford,  Terre  Haute; 
Ninth,  Col.  R.  P.  DeHart,  Lafayette;  Tenth,  Capt.  M. 
L.  DeMotte,  Valparaiso;  Eleventh,  Col.  C.  E.  Briant, 
Huntington;  Twelfth,  Capt.  J.  C.  Peltier,  Fort  Wayne; 
Thirteenth,  Gen.  Reub.  Williams,  Warsaw.  More  than 
100,000  people  witnessed  the  pageant. 

The  monument  is  a  majestic  square  embellished  shaft  of 
Indiana  limestone,  some  250  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a 
heroic  figure  of  Victory,  the  pedestal  resting  upon  a  great 
circular  stone  terrace.  The  architects  were  Bruno  Schmitz, 
of  Berlin,  and  Frederick  Baumann,  of  Chicago.  The 
ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  was  conducted  by  the 
following  officials  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic: 
Commander  of  the  Department  of  Indiana  Charles  M. 
Travis,  of  Crawfordsville ;  Senior  Vice  Department  Com- 
mander P.  D.  Harris,  of  Shelbyville ;  Junior  Vice-Com- 
mander B.  B.  Campbell,  of  Anderson ;  Assistant  Adjutant- 
General  I.  N.  Walker,  of  Indianapolis ;  Officers  of  the  Day 
Wm.  H.  Armstrong,  of  Indianapolis,  and  Lieut. -Gov. 
Ira  J.  Chase,  of  Danville. 

Gov.  Alvin  P.  Hovey,  as  presiding  officer,  delivered  an 
eloquent  opening  address,  which  was  followed  by  the  sing- 
ing of  the  hymn  "  Dedication, "  written  for  the  occasion  by 


214  HARRISON'S   SPEECHES. 

Charles  M.  Walker,  of  Indianapolis.  The  speakers  of  the 
day  were  Gen.  Mahlon  D.  Manson,  of  Crawfordsville,  and 
Gen.  John  Coburn,  of  Indianapolis.  Their  masterly  ora- 
tions were  followed  by  the  reading  of  a  poem,  "  What  Shall 
It  Teach?  "  written  by  Capt.  Lee  O.  Harris,  of  Greenfield. 
When  Governor  Hovey  introduced  the  Chief  Executive 
of  the  Nation  the  vast  audience  swayed  with  enthusiasm. 
In  a  voice  low,  and  with  a  slight  tremble  in  it,  President 
Harrison  began  his  fine  tribute  to  the  men  who  responded 
to  the  country's  call.  As  he  proceeded  his  voice  rose 
higher  until  it  rang  out  clear  as  a  bugle  and  drew  from 
the  multitude  repeated  and  vociferous  cheers.  He  spoke 
as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow -citizens — I  did  not  expect  to  make  any 
address  on  this  occasion.  It  would  have  been  pleasant,  if  I  could 
have  found  leisure  to  make  suitable  preparation,  to  have  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  committee  having  these  exercises  in  charge 
to  deliver  an  oration.  I  would  have  felt  it  an  honor  to  associate 
my  name  with  an  occasion  so  great  as  this.  Public  duties,  how- 
ever, prevented  the  acceptance  of  the  invitation,  and  I  could  only 
promise  to  be  present  with  you  to-day.  It  seemed  to  me  most  ap- 
propriate that  I  should  take  part  with  my  fellow-citizens  of  Indi- 
ana in  this  great  ceremony.  There  have  been  few  occasions  in  the 
history  of  our  State  so  full  of  interest,  so  magnificent,  so  inspiring, 
as  that  which  we  now  witness.  The  suggestion  that  a  monument 
should  be  builded  to  commemorate  the  valor  and  heroism  of  those 
soldiers  of  Indiana  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  flag  attracted  my 
interest  from  the  beginning.  Five  years  ago  last  January,  when 
the  people  assembled  in  the  opera-house  yonder  to  unveil  the  statue 
which  had  been  worthily  set  up  to  our  great  war  Governor,  I  vent- 
ured to  express  the  hope  that  near  by  it,  as  a  twin  expression  of 
one  great  sentiment,  there  might  be  builded  a  noble  shaft,  not  to 
any  man,  not  to  bear  on  any  of  its  majestic  faces  the  name  of -a 
man,  but  a  monument  about  which  the  sons  of  veterans,  the  moth- 
ers of  our  dead,  the  widows  that  are  yet  with  us,  might  gather, 
and,  pointing  to  the  stately  shaft,  say:  "There  is  his  monument." 
The  hope  expressed  that  day  is  realized  now.  [Cheers.  ] 

I  congratulate  the  people  of  Indiana  that  our  Legislature  has 
generously  met  the  expectations  of  our  patriotic  people.  I  congrat- 
ulate the  commission  having  this  great  work  in  charge  that  they 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  215 

have  secured  a  design  which  will  not  suffer  under  the  criticism  of 
the  best  artists  of  the  world.  I  congratulate  you  that  a  monument 
so  costly  as  to  show  that  we  value  that  which  it  commemorates,  so 
artistic  as  to  express  the  sentiment  which  evoked  it,  is  to  stand  in 
the  capital  of  Indiana.  Does  any  one  say  there  is  wastefulness 
here?  [Cries  of  "No,  no!"]  My  countrymen,  $200,000  has  never 
passed,  and  never  will  pass,  from  the  treasury  of  Indiana  that  will 
give  a  better  return  than  the  expend  iture  for  the  erection  of  this 
monument.  As  I  have  witnessed  these  ceremonies  and  listened  to 
these  patriotic  hymns  I  have  read  in  the  faces  of  the  men  wTho 
stand  about  me  that  lifting  up  of  the  soul,  that  kindling  of  patri- 
otic fire,  that  has  made  me  realize  that  on  such  occasions  the  Na- 
tion is  laying  deep  and  strong  its  future  security. 

This  is  a  monument  by  Indiana  to  Indiana  soldiers.  But  I  beg 
you  to  remember  that  they  were  only  soldiers  of  Indiana  until  the 
enlistment  oath  was  taken  ;  that  from  that  hour  until  they  came 
back  to  the  generous  State  that  had  sent  them  forth  they  were  sol- 
diers of  the  Union.  So  that  it  seemed  to  me  not  inappropriate  that 
I  should  bring  to  you  to-day  the  sympathy  and  cheer  of  the  loyal  peo- 
ple of  all  the  States.  No  American  citizen  need  avoid  it  or  pass 
it  with  unsympathetic  eyes,  for,  my  countrymen,  it  does  not  com- 
memorate a  war  of  subjugation.  There  is  not  in  the  United  States 
to-day  a  man  who,  if  he  realizes  what  has  occurred  since  the  war 
and  has  opened  his  soul  to  the  sight  of  that  which  is  to  come,  who 
will  not  feel  that  it  is  good  for  all  our  people  that  victory  crowded 
the  cause  which  this  monument  commemorates.  I  do  seriously  be- 
lieve that  if  we  can  measure  among  the  States  the  benefits  result- 
ing from  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  the  rebellious  States  have 
the  larger  share.  It  destroyed  an  institution  that  was  their  de- 
struction. It  opened  the  way  for  a  commercial  life  that,  if  they 
will  only  embrace  it  and  face  the  light,  means  to  them  a  develop- 
ment that  shall  rival  the  best  attainments  of  the  greatest  of  our 
States. 

And  now  let  me  thank  you  for  your  pleasant  greeting.  I  have 
felt  lifted  up  by  this  occasion.  It  seems  to  me  that  our  spirits 
have  been  borne  up  to  meet  those  of  the  dead  and  glorified,  and 
that  from  this  place  we  shall  go  to  our  homes  more  resolutely  set 
in  our  purpose  as  citizens  to  conserve  the  peace  and  welfare  of  our 
neighborhoods,  to  hold  up  the  dignity  and  honor  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions, and  to  see  that  no  harm  shall  come  to  our  country,  whether 
from  internal  dissensions  or  from  the  aggressions  of  a  foreign  foe. 
[Great  cheering.] 


216  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

A  camp-fire  was  held  at  night  at  Tomliiison  Hall,  pre- 
sided over  by  Charles  M.  Travis,  Commander  of  Indi- 
ana G.  A.  R.,  where  an  audience  of  over  5,000  assem- 
bled. The  orators  of  the  occasion  were  Hon.  Samuel  B. 
Voyles,  of  Salem ;  Judge  Daniel  Waugh,  of  Tipton ;  Gen- 
oral  Jasper  Packard,  of  New  Albany ;  Col.  I.  N.  Walker 
and  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  Indianapolis;  Hon.  Benj.  S. 
Parker,  New  Castle,  and  Hon.  Wm.  R  Myers,  Anderson. 

President  Harrison's  appearance  was  greeted  by  a  pro- 
longed demonstration,  the  audience  rising  with  one  impulse. 
Commander  Travis  said :  "  I  told  you  I  would  treat  you  to 
a  surprise.  Here  is  your  President.  He  needs  no  intro- 
duction." 

President  Harrison's  reply  was : 

Mr.  Chairman,  Comrades — I  think  I  will  treat  you  to  another  sur- 
prise. My  Indiana  friends  have  been  so  much  accustomed  to  have 
me  talk  on  all  occasions  that  I  am  sure  nothing  would  gratify  them 
more — nothing  would  be  a  greater  surprise  than  for  me  to  decline  to 
talk  to-night.  I  am  very  grateful  for  this  expression  of  your  inter- 
est and  respect.  That  comradeship  and  good  feeling  which  your 
cordial  salutation  has  expressed  to  me  I  beg  every  comrade  of  the 
Grand  Army  here  to-night  to  believe  I  feel  for  him. 

Now,  I  am  sure,  in  view  of  the  labors  of  yesterday  and  to-day, 
that  you  will  allow  me  to  wish  you  prosperous,  happy,  useful  lives, 
honorable  and  peaceful  deaths,  and  that  those  who  survive  you  may 
point  to  this  shaft,  which  is  being  reared  yonder,  as  a  worthy  trib- 
ute of  your  services  in  defence  of  your  country.  [Cheers.  ] 


INDIANAPOLIS,  AUGUST  23,  1889. 
Reunion  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana. 

THE  day  following  the  ceremonies  at  the  Soldiers'  Mon- 
ument President  Harrison  attended  the  fifteenth  annual 
reunion  of  his  old  regiment,  the  Seventieth  Indiana,  at 
Tomlinson  Hall.  Many  survivors  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Second  and  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Indiana,  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-ninth  Illinois,  and  the  Seventy-ninth 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  217 

Ohio  regiments  were  present.  These  regiments,  with  the 
Seventieth,  constituted  the  First  Brigade — General  Harri- 
son's command.  The  gathering,  therefore,  was  alternately 
a  regimental  and  brigade  reunion. 

Col.  Samuel  Merrill,  who  delivered  the  annual  ad- 
dress, escorted  the  President,  and  amid  enthusiastic 
cheering  installed  him  as  presiding  officer  of  the  assembly. 
Other  prominent  members  of  the  Seventieth  present  were 
Gen.  Thomas  J.  Morgan,  Capt.  Win.  M.  Meredith,  Daniel 
M.  Ransdell,  Moses  G.  McLain,  Capt.  H.  M.  Endsley,  Capt. 
Win.  Mitchell,  and  Capt.  Chas.  H.  Cox.  General  Harri- 
son was  unanimously  re-elected  President  of  the  regimen- 
tal association ;  he  was  also  chosen  first  President  of  the 
brigade  association.  The  other  brigade  officers  were 
Vice-President,  Gen.  Daniel  Dustin ;  Second  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  Gen.  A.  W.  Doane;  Secretary,  J.  M.  Ay ers ;  Treas- 
urer, E.  H.  Conger. 

In  the  absence  of  Mayor  Denny,  City  Attorney  W.  L. 
Taylor  cordially  welcomed  the  veterans  to  Indianapolis 
To  this  greeting  the  presiding  officer,  President  Harrison, 
responded : 

Mr.  Taylor — The  survivors  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Volunteer 
Infantry,  now  assembled  in  annual  reunion,  have  heard,  with  great 
gratification,  the  cordial  words  of  welcome  which  you  have  ad- 
dressed to  us.  We  have  never  doubted  the  hospitality  of  the  citi- 
zens of  this  great  city,  and  have  several  times  held  our  reunions 
here ;  and  if  we  have  more  frequently  sought  some  of  the  quieter 
towns  in  this  Congressional  district — where  the  regiment  was  organ- 
ized— it  has  only  been  because  we  could  be  a  little  more  to  our- 
selves than  was  possible  in  this  city.  You  will  not  think  this  a 
selfish  instinct  when  I  tell  you  that,  as  the  years  go  on,  these  re- 
unions of  our  regiment  become  more  and  more  a  family  affair ; 
and  as  in  the  gathering  of  the  scattered  members  of  a  family  in 
the  family  reunion,  so  we  have  loved,  when  we  get  together  as 
comrades,  to  be  somewhat  apart,  that  we  might  enjoy  each  other. 
It  has  been  pleasant,  I  am  sure,  however,  to  link  this  annual  re- 
union with  the  great  event  of  yesterday.  It  did  us  good  to  meet 
with  our  comrades  of  the  whole  State — those  who  had  other  num- 
bers on  their  uniforms,  but  carried  the  same  flag  under  which  we 


218  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

marched — in  these  exercises  connected  with  the  dedication  of  a 
monument  that  knows  no  regimental  distinction.      [Applause.  ] 

If  those  having  charge  now  will  announce  some  proper  arrange- 
ment by  which  I  can  take  by  the  hand  the  members,  not  only  of 
the  Seventieth  Indiana,  but  any  comrades  of  the  First  Brigade, 
who  have  done  us  honor  by  meeting  with  us  to-day,  I  would  be 
glad  to  conform  to  their  wishes.  It  is  perhaps  possible  that,  with- 
out leaving  the  hall,  simply  by  an  exchange  of  seats,  this  may  be 
accomplished,  and  when  that  is  done  there  may  yet  be  time  before 
dinner  to  proceed  with  some  other  of  the  exercises  upon  the  pro- 
gramme. 


CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  9,  1889. 

MONDAY  morning,  December  9,  1889,  President  Harri- 
son, accompanied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  B.  Harrison, 
Mrs.  McKee,  and  First  Ass't  Postmaster- General  J.  S. 
Clarkson  and  wife,  arrived  in  Chicago  for  the  purpose  of 
participating  in  the  dedication  of  the  great  Auditorium 
building,  in  which — while  in  an  unfinished  state — was  held 
the  convention  of  June,  1888,  that  nominated  General 
Harrison  for  the  presidency.  The  distinguished  party 
was  met  by  a  committee  comprising  Mayor  D.  C.  Cregier, 
Ferd.  W.  Peck,  Gen.  Geo.  W.  Crook,  Hon.  A.  L.  Seeberger, 
Col.  James  A.  Sexton,  Alexander  H.  Revell,  Franklin  S. 
Head,  C.  L.  Hutchinson,  Charles  Counselman,  J.  J.  P. 
Odell,  Col.  O.  A.  Schaffner,  F.  S.  Bissell,  and  R.  W. 
Dunham. 

During  the  morning  the  President  and  Vice-President 
Morton,  under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Ferd.  Peck,  visited  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  were  tendered  an  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion by  the  members  of  that  famous  exchange.  Then 
followed  a  reception  and  lunch  at  the  Union  League  Club, 
as  the  guests  of  Mr.  Peck  and  President  Bissell  of  the  Club. 
Other  prominent  citizens  present  were  Governor  Fifer, 
Geo.  M.  Pullman,  Marshall  Field,  Joseph  Medill,  S.  M. 
Nickerson,  J.  R.  Rumsey,  N".  K.  Fairbank,  Sam.  W.  Aller- 
ton,  A.  A.  Sprague,  H.  H.  Kohlsaat,  Wm.  Penn  Nixon,  A. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  219 

L.  Patterson,  Adolph  Caron,  C.  I.  Peck,  A.  L.  Coe,  John 
R.  Walsh,  J.  W.  Scott,  John  B.  Carson,  M.  A.  Ryerson, 
V.  F.  Lawson,  and  O.  W.  Meysenberg.  Later  in  the  after- 
noon the  President  and  Mr.  Morton,  accompanied  by 
Governor  Hoard,  of  Wisconsin,  General  Alger,  and  Judge 
Thurston,  visited  the  Marquette  Club — of  which  the  Pres- 
ident is  an  honorary  member — and  were  received  by  Presi- 
dent Revell,  Secretary  Gould,  H.  M.  Kingman,  C.  W. 
Gordon,  and  C.  E.  Nixon,  comprising  the  Reception  Com- 
mittee. 

The  dedication  of  the  auditorium  hall  in  the  evening 
was  an  event  of  rare  interest  in  the  history  of  Chicago. 
President  Harrison  and  his  party  and  Vice-President  and 
Mrs.  Morton  were  the  honored  guests  of  the  occasion. 
Other  distinguished  out-of-town  guests  were  Sir  Adolph 
Caron,  Hon.  G.  A.  Kirkpatrick,  C.  H.  Mclntosh,  and  Mr. 
Wells,  of  Canada ;  Governor  and  Mrs.  Fif er ;  Governor 
and  Mrs.  Merriam,  of  Minnesota ;  Governor  Hoard,  of 
Wisconsin;  Governor  and  Mrs.  Larrabee,  of  Iowa;  Mrs. 
Governor  Gordon;  ex-Governor  Morton,  of  Nebraska; 
General  Alger,  Judge  and  Mrs.  Walter  Q.  Gresham ;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  House,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  J. 
Mackey,  of  Kansas  City. 

The  Auditorium — the  modern  Parthenon — typifying  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  is  largely  the  conception  of  Mr.  Ferd.  W. 
Peck,  and  its  realization  is  the  fruit  of  his  zeal,  supported 
and  encouraged  by  the  wealthy  men  of  Chicago.  The 
great  structure,  costing  three  and  a  half  million  dollars, 
was  built  by  the  Chicago  Auditorium  Association,  whose 
officers  at  the  time  of  completion  were :  Ferd.  W.  Peck, 
President;  N.  K.  Fairbank,  First  Vice-President;  John 
R.  Walsh,  Second  Vice-President ;  Charles  L.  Hutchinson, 
Treasurer;  Charles  H.  Lunt,  Secretary.  The  building  was 
begun  June  1,  1887 ;  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  occurred 
in  September  that  year,  and  was  witnessed  by  President 
Cleveland  and  other  distinguished  visitors.  It  has  a  front- 


220  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

age  of  710  feet  on  Congress  Street,  Michigan  and  Wabash 
avenues.  The  exterior  material  is  granite  and  Bedford 
stone.  The  height  of  the  main  structure  is  145  feet,  or 
ten  stories;  height  of  tower  above  main  building  95  feet, 
or  eight  floors ;  height  of  lantern  above  main  tower  30  feet, 
or  two  floors ;  total  height  270  feet — one  of  the  tallest  build- 
ings in  the  world.  The  permanent  seating  capacity  of  the 
auditorium  is  over  4,000,  but  for  conventions — by  utiliz- 
ing stage — this  capacity  is  increased  to  8,000.  A  feature 
of  the  great  hall  is  the  grand  organ.  In  addition  to  this 
unrivalled  convention  hall  the  colossal  structure  contains  a 
recital  hall,  136  stores  and  offices,  a  hotel  with  400  guest 
rooms,  and  a  magnificent  banquet  hall  175  feet  long. 

The  gathering  at  the  dedicatory  exercises  nationalized 
the  Auditorium ;  15,000  people  were  within  its  walls.  The 
President  and  Mrs.  McKee  were  the  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ferd.  W.  Peck.  Among  the  several  thousand  prominent 
residents  present  were  the  following  gentlemen  and  their 
families — stockholders  in  the  Auditorium  Association :  G. 
E.  Adams,  A.  C.  Bartlett,  G.  M.  Bogue,  C.  W.  Brega,  J. 
W.  Doane,  J.  B.  Drake,  J.  K.  Fisher,  Carter  H.  Harrison, 
Charles  Henrotin,  O.  R.  Keith,  G.  F.  Kimball,  S.  D.  Kim- 
bark,  J.  T.  Lester,  W.  L.  Peck,  R.  W.  Roloson,  W.  C. 
Seipp,  Lazarus  Silverman,  Robert  Warren,  John  Wilkin- 
son, Jr.,  C.  S.  Willoughby,  C.  T.  Yerkes,  J.  McGregor 
Adams,.  W.  T.  Baker,  Gen.  J.  C.  Black,  H.  Botsford,  R. 
R.  Cable,  C.  R.  Cummings,  J.  C.  Dore,  G.  L.  Dunlap,  C. 
B.  Farwell,  J.  J.  Glessner,  E.  G.  Kieth,  W.  D.  Kerfoot,  W. 
W.  Kimball,  L.  Z.  Leiter,  J.  M.  Loomis,  A.  A.  Munger,  N. 
B.  Ream,  Conrad  Seipp,  J.  G.  Shortall,  W.  Sooy  Smith,  P. 
B.  Weare,  Norman  Williams,  F.  H.  Winston,  and  J.  Otto 
Young. 

The  exercises  opened  with  an  address  of  welcome  by 
Mayor  Cregier,  followed  by  a  speech  from  Mr.  Peck,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Association,  who  received  an  ovation.  Pres- 
ident Harrison's  address  was  followed  by  the  rendition  of 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  221 

the  hymn  "  America"  by  the  Apollo  Club  of  500  trained 
voices.  Hon.  John  S.  Runnells  delivered  the  dedicatory 
oration.  Then  came  the  real  event  of  the  day — "  Home, 
Sweet  Home  "  and  the  "  Swiss  Echo  Song  "  by  the  incom- 
parable songstress  Adelina  Patti,  who  shared  the  honors 
of  the  occasion  with  the  President.  The  programme 
concluded  with  an  address  by  Governor  Fifer  and  the 
grand  "Hallelujah"  chorus  from  "The  Messiah." 

As  Mr.  Peck  introduced  President  Harrison  the  great 
assembly  enthusiastically  testified  its  welcome.  The  Pres- 
ident spoke  as  follows : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen — Some  of  my  newspaper  friends  have  been 
puzzling  themselves  in  order  to  discover  the  reason  why  I  left 
Washington  to  be  present  here  to-night.  I  do  not  think  I  need,  in 
view  of  the  magnificent  spectacle  presented  to  us  here  to-night, 
to  state  the  motives  which  have  impelled  my  presence.  Surely 
no  loyal  citizen  of  Chicago  who  sits  here  to-night  under  this  witch- 
ing and  magnificent  scene  will  ask  for  any  other  reason  than  that 
which  is  here  presented,  [Applause.  ] 

I  do  most  heartily  congratulate  you  upon  the  completion  and  in- 
auguration of  this  magnificent  building — without  an  equal  in  this 
country,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  without  an  equal  in  the  world. 
[Applause.]  We  have  here  about  us  to-night  in  this  grand  archi- 
tecture, in  this  tasteful  decoration,  that  which  is  an  education 
and  an  inspiration.  [Applause.]  It  might  well  tempt  one  whose 
surroundings  were  much  farther  removed  from  this  scene  than  is 
the  capital  city  to  make  a  longer  journey  than  I  have  done  to  stand 
for  an  hour  in  the  view^  of  such  a  spectacle  of  magnificence  and 
grandeur  and  architectural  triumph  as  this.  [Applause.]  And  if 
that  be  true,  surely  there  is  reason  enough  why  the  President  may 
turn  aside  for  a  little  while  from  public  duty  to  mingle  with  his 
fellow-citizens  in  celebrating  an  event  so  high  and  so  worthy  of 
commemoration  as  this  triumph  to-night.  [Prolonged  applause.  ] 

Not  speech,  certainly,  not  the  careless  words  of  an  extemporane- 
ous speech,  can  adequately  express  all  the  sentiments  I  feel  in  con- 
templating the  fitting  culmination  of  this  deed.  [Applause.  ]  Only 
the  voice  of  the  immortal  singer  can  bring  from  these  arches  those 
echoes  which  will  tell  us  the  true  purpose  of  their  construction. 
[Applause.  ] 

You  will  permit  me,  then,  to  thank  you,  to  thank  the  Mavor  of 
Chicago,  to  thank  the  President  of  this  Association,  and  to  thank 


222  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

all  those  good  citizens  with  whom  I  have  to-day  been  brought  in 
personal  contact,  for  the  kindness  and  respect  with  which  you  and 
they  have  received  me  ;  and  3*011  will  permit  me  to  thank  you,  my 
fellow-citizens,  for  the  cordiality  which  you  have  kindly  displayed 
here  to-night. 

It  is  my  wish,  and  may  it  be  the  wish  of  all,  that  this  great 
building  may  continue  to  be  to  all  your  population  that  which  it 
should  be— an  edifice  open  ing  its  doors  from  night  to  night,  calling 
your  people  here  away  from  the  care  of  business  to  those  enjoy- 
ments, and  pursuits,  and  entertainments  which  develop  the  souls 
of  men  [applause],  which  will  have  power  to  inspire  those  whose 
lives  are  heavy  with  daily  toil,  and  in  its  magnificent  and  enchant- 
ing presence  lift  them  for  a  time  out  of  these  dull  things  into  those 
higher  things  where  men  should  live.  [Great  applause.  ] 


CLEVELAND,  OHIO,  MAY  30,   1890. 
Garfield  Memorial  Dedication. 

ON  Decoration  Day,  1890,  President  Harrison  and  Vice- 
President  Morton,  accompanied  by  Secretary  Windom, 
Postmaster-General  Wanamaker,  Attorney-General  Mil- 
ler, Secretary  of  Agriculture  Rusk,  and  Marshal  Daniel  M. 
Ransdell,  visited  the  city  of  Cleveland  for  the  purpose  of 
participating  in  the  dedication  of  the  grand  mausoleum 
erected  to  the  memory  of  the  lamented  President  James 
Abram  Garfield.  Fifty  thousand  people  greeted  the  Pres- 
ident and  his  party  on  arrival. 

The  mausoleum  is  situated  in  Lake  View  Cemetery,  over- 
looking a  region  closely  associated  with  Garfield 's  memory ; 
it  is  built  of  Ohio  sandstone — a  large  and  imposing  circular 
tojver  50  feet  in  diameter,  rising  180  feet.  At  the  base 
projects  a  square  porch,  decorated  externally  with  an 
historical  frieze,  divided  into  panels  containing  life-size 
bas-reliefs  picturing  the  career  of  Garfield  as  teacher, 
statesman,  soldier,  and  President.  This  imposing  monu- 
ment was  erected  under  the  auspices  of  the  Garfield 
National  Memorial  Association,  whose  officers  were: 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  President;  J.  H.  Wade  and  T.  P. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  223 

Handy,  Vice- Presidents ;  Amos  Towiisend,  Secretary. 
The  Trustees  of  the  Association  were:  Charles  Foster, 
E.  B.  Hayes,  James  G.  Elaine,  H.  B.  Payne,  J.  H.  Wade, 
Dan'l  P.  Eells,  J.  H.  Rhodes,  James  Barnett,  John  Hay, 
T.  P.  Handy,  J.  B.  Parsons,  William  Bingham,  W.  S. 
Streator,  and  H.  C.  White.  The  memorial  cost  $150,000, 
of  which  $75,000  was  contributed  by  citizens  of  Cleve- 
land ;  the  architect  was  George  Keller,  of  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut. 

More  than  100,000  people  witnessed  the  parade  and  the 
dedicatory  ceremonies,  which  were  conducted  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Grand  Commandery,  Knights  Templars 
of  Ohio — Right  Eminent  Henry  Perkins,  of  Akron,  Grand 
Commander;  Very  Eminent  William  B.  Melish,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Grand  Marshal ;  Eminent  Sir  Huntington  Brown, 
of  Mansfield,  Generalissimo ;  Eminent  Sir  L.  F.  Van  Cleve, 
of  Cincinnati,  Grand  Prelate ;  Eminent  Sir  H.  P.  Mclii- 
tosh,  of  Cleveland,  Grand  Senior  Warden;  and  Eminent 
Sir  J.  Burton  Parsons,  of  Cleveland,  Grand  Treasurer. 
The  committee  to  receive  and  entertain  the  guests  from 
other  cities  comprised  the  following  prominent  residents  of 
Cleveland :  Hon.  J.  H.  Wade,  Dan'l  P.  Eells,  M.  A.  Han- 
na,  Col.  William  Edwards,  Hon.  R.  C  Parsons,  Henry  D. 
Coffinberry,  Gen.  M.  D.  Leggett,  Hon.  George  H.  Ely, 
Hon.  Joseph  Turney,  Samuel  Andrews,  Hon.  S.  Buhrer, 
Hon.  H.  B.  Payne,  Charles  F.  Brush,  Hon.  Charles  A.  Otis, 
R.  K.  Hawley,  William  Chisholm,  H.  R.  Hatch,  W.  J. 
McKinnie,  John  Tod,  ,Hon.  N.  B.  Sherwin,  L.  E.  Holden, 
George  W.  Howe,  Samuel  L.  Mather,  Judge  S.  Burke,  Col. 
John  Hay,  Hon.  T.  E.  Burton,  Hon.  R.  R.  Herrick,  Selah 
Chamberlain,  A.  Wiener,  Charles  Wesley,  Hon.  Lee  Mc- 
Bride,  Hon.  O.  J.  Hodge,  H.  C.  Ranney,  G.  E.  Herrick, 
Hon.  W.  W.  Armstrong,  S.  T.  Everett,  Judge  J.  M.  Jones, 
Hon.  J.  H.  Farley,  Hon.  G.  W.  Gardner,  R.  R.  Rhodes, 
J.  B.  Zerbe,  Samuel  W.  Sessions,  Louis  H.  Severance, 
Hon.  M.  A.  Foran,  Hon.  C  B.  Lock  wood,  Hon.  William 


224  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Bingham,  John  F.  Whitelaw,  Fayette  Brown,  Capt.  P.  G. 
Watmough,  E.  R.  Perkins,  Bolivar  Butts,  George  T.  Chap- 
man, Hon.  D.  A.  Dangler,  Charles  Hickox,  and  George 
W.  Pack.  Committee  on  Finance:  John  H.  McBride, 
Myron  T.  Herrick,  S.  C.  Ford,  Joseph  Turney,  Charles 
L.  Pack,  H.  S.  Whittlesey,  H.  R.  Groff,  Percy' W.  Rice, 
Charles  H.  Bulkley,  Douglas  Perkins,  Kaufman  Hays,  M. 
A.  Hanna,  T.  S.  Knight,  James  Parmelee,  I.  P.  Lampson, 
Samuel  Mather,  O.  M.  Stafford,  C.  J.  Sheffield,  Harvey  H. 
Brown,  J.  K.  Bole,  Dan'l  P.  Eells,  H.  R.  Hatch,  John  F. 
Pankhurst,  John  Tod,  and  George  P.  Welch. 

The  event  called  together  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
assemblies  of  the  decade.  Among  the  guests  not  previ- 
ously mentioned — who  occupied  places  of  honor — were 
Gen.  William  T.  Sherman,  "  Chief- Justice  Melville  W. 
Fuller,  Maj. -Gen.  John  M.  Schofield,  ex-Postmaster-Gen- 
eral Thomas  L.  James,  Gov.  James  E.  Campbell,  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  Marquis,  Hon.  William  McKinley,  Jr., 
Bishop  William  A.  Leonard,  Bishop  Gilmour,  Col.  Wm. 
Perry  Fogg,  and  many  others.  Mrs.  Garfield  was  accom- 
panied by  her  four  sons,  her  daughter,  and  General  and 
Mrs.  John  Newell. 

The  spectacular  event  of  the  day  was  the  grand  military 
and  civic  parade,  participated  in  by  President  Harrison 
and  the  other  guests.  Six  thousand  men  were  in  line,  com- 
manded by  Chief  Marshal  Gen.  James  Barnett  and  a  brill- 
iant staff.  At  the  head  of  the  great  column  marched  115 
survivors  of  Garfield 's  old  regiment — the  Forty-second 
Ohio— led  by  Capt.  C.  E.  Henry,  of  Dallas,  Texas,  the  Col- 
onel, Judge  Don  A.  Pardee,  being  absent.  The  procession 
comprised  twelve  divisions,  commanded  by  the  following 
marshals:  Capt.  J.  B.  Molyneaux,  Gen.  M.  D.  Leggett, 
Col.  W.  H.  Hayward,  Em.  Sir  M.  J.  Houck,  Col.  Louis 
Black,  Col.  John  Dunn,  Capt.  E.  H.  Bohm,  Captain 
McNiel,  Capt.  Louis  Perczel,  Col.  Allen  T.  Brinsmade, 
Col.  C.  L.  Alderson,  and  Capt.  M.  G.  Browne. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  225 

Ex-President  Hayes  officiated  as  Chairman  of  the  dedi- 
catory meeting  at  the  mausoleum,  and  introduced  Hon. 
Jacob  D.  Cox,  of  Cincinnati,  who  delivered  the  oration  of 
the  occasion.  Many  other  distinguished  men  spoke  briefly. 
When  the  Chairman  introduced  President  Harrison  an 
ovation  was  tendered  him,  and  almost  every  sentence  of 
his  address  was  enthusiastically  cheered. 

The  President  spoke  with  great  earnestness.     He  said : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow  citizens — I  thank  you  most  sincerely 
for  this  cordial  greeting,  but  I  shall  not  be  betrayed  by  it  into  a 
lengthy  speech.  The  selection  of  this  day  for  these  exercises — a 
day  consecrated  to  the  memory  of  those  who  died  that  there  might 
be  one  flag  of  honor  and  authority  in  this  republic — is  most  fitting. 
That  one  flag  encircles  us  with  its  folds  to  day,  the  unrivalled  ob- 
ject of  our  loyal  love. 

This  monument,  so  imposing  and  tasteful,  fittingly  typifies  the 
grand  and  symmetrical  character  of  him  in  whose  honor  it  has 
been  builded.  His  was  "'the  arduous  greatness  of  things  done." 
No  friendly  hands  constructed  and  placed  for  his  ambition  a  ladder 
upon  which  he  might  climb.  His  own  brave  hands  framed  and 
nailed  the  cleats  upon  which  he  climbed  to  the  heights  of  public 
usefulness  and  fame.  He  never  ceased  to  be  student  and  instructor. 
Turning  from  peaceful  pursuits  to  army  service,  he  quickly  mas- 
tered tactics  and  strategy,  and  in  a  brief  army  career  taught  some 
valuable  lessons  in  military  science.  Turning  again  from  the  field 
to  the  councils  of  state,  he  stood  among  the  great  debaters  that 
have  made  our  National  Congress  illustrious.  What  he  might  have 
been  or  done  as  President  of  the  United  States  is  chiefly  left  to 
friendly  augury,  based  upon  a  career  that  had  no  incident  of  fail, 
ure  or  inadequacy.  The  cruel  circumstances  attending  his  death 
had  but  one  amelioration — that  space  of  life  was  given  him  to  teach 
from  his  dying  bed  a  great  lesson  of  patience  and  forbearance. 
His  mortal  part  will  find  honorable  rest  here,  but  the  lessons  of  his 
life  and  death  will  continue  to  be  instructive  and  inspiring  inci- 
dents in  American  history.  [Great  applause.] 
15 


226  HARJRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


BOSTON,  AUGUST  11,  1890. 
The  Guest  of  Massachusetts. 

MONDAY  afternoon,  August  11,  the  cruiser  Baltimore, 
bearing  President  Harrison,  Secretary  Rusk,  Secretary 
Noble,  and  a  number  of  friends,  entered  Boston  harbor, 
saluted  by  the  Atlanta,  the  Kearsage,  the  Petrel,  the 
Yorktown,  the  Dolphin,  the  dynamite  cruiser  Vesuvius, 
and  the  torpedo-boat  dishing.  The  distinguished  guests 
were  met  by  the  Hon.  John  Q.  A.  Brackett,  Governor  of 
Massachusetts ;  Hon.  Alanson  W.  Beard,  Collector  of  the 
Port;  Adj. -Gen.  Samuel  Dalton,  Surg.-Gen.  Alfred  F. 
Holt,  Judge  Adv.  Gen.,Edward  O.  Shepard,  Col.  Sidney 
M.  Hedges,  Col.  Wm.  P.'stoddard,  Col.  Samuel  E.  Wins- 
low,  and  Col.  Edward  V.  Mitchell,  of  the  Governor's  mili- 
tary staff;  Hon.  Thomas  N.  Hart,  Mayor  of  Boston;  Hon. 
Geo.  L.  Goodale,  Chairman  Executive  Committee  National 
Encampment,  G.  A.  R. ;  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  President 
National  Encampment  Committee ;  Hon.  E.  S.  Converse, 
Treasurer ;  and  Secretary  Silas  A.  Barton. 

Many  thousand  visiting  veterans  greeted  the  head  of 
the  Nation  as  he  passed  through  the  historic  streets  es- 
corted by  the  First  Battalion  of  Cavalry.  Arrived  at  the 
Hotel  Vendome,  the  President  and  his  party,  as  guests  of 
the  Commonwealth,  attended  a  State  banquet,  presided 
over  by  Governor  Brackett.  There  was  no  speech-making. 
Other  distinguished  guests  were  Vice-President  Morton, 
Secretaries  Proctor  and  Tracy,  General  Sherman,  Admiral 
Gherardi,  Gov.  Leon  Abbett,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Lieu  ten- 
ant-Governor Hale, of  Massachusetts.  Later  in  the  evening 
Governor  Brackett  and  staff  escorted  the  President  to  the 
Parker  House,  where  they  participated  in  a  reception  given 
by  E.  W.  Kinsley  Post  of  Boston  to  Lafayette  Post  149  of 
New  York.  Many  veterans  of  national  fame  were  present, 
among  them  Gen.  Lucius  Fairchild,  Gen.  Dan'l  E.  Sickles, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  227 

Corporal  James  Tanner,  ex-Gov.  Austin  Blair,  of  Michi- 
gan, Commander  Viele,  of  Lafayette  Post,  and  the  follow- 
ing prominent  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  comprising  the 
Reception  Committee  of  the  National  Encampment :  lion. 
Henry  H.  Sprague,  President  Massachusetts  Senate;  Hon. 
Win.  E.  Barrett,  Speaker  Massachusetts  House;  Hon. 
Win.  Power  Wilson,  Chairman  Boston  Aldermen ;  Horace 
G.  Allen,  President  Common  Council;  Hon.  John  F.  An- 
drew, Geo.  H.  Innis,  Charles  E.  Osgood,  Arthur  A.  Fowle, 
Fred  C.  King,  Paul  H.  Kendricken,  J.  H.  O'Neil,  Joel 
Goldthwaite,  Hon.  Charles  J.  Noyes,  Hon.  E.  A.  Stevens, 
Horace  G.  Allen,  Capt.  Nathan  Appleton,  Col.  Albert 
Clarke,  Chas.  D.  Rohan,  F.  C.  Brownell,  and  A.  S.  Fowle, 
of  Boston;  Gen.  A.  B.  R.  Sprague  and  Col.  H.  E.  Smith,  of 
Worcester;  John  W.  Hersey,  of  Springfield;  John  M. 
Deane,  Fall  River;  Gen.  J.  W.  Kimball,  Fitchburg;  Maj. 
Geo.  S.  Merrill,  Lawrence;  Wm.  H.  Lee,  Greenwood;  S. 
W.  Benson,  Charlestown ;  Joseph  O.  Burdett,  Hingham ; 
Col.  Myron  P.  Walker,  Belchertown;  and  Arthur  A. 
Smith,  of  Gris wolds ville.  The  reception  concluded  with 
a  banquet.  Col.  Charles  L.  Taylor  acted  as  toastmaster 
and  presented  General  Harrison,  who  received  an  ovation. 
In  response  to  these  cordial  greetings  the  President  said : 

Comrades — I  do  not  count  it  the  least  of  those  fortunate  circum- 
stances which  have  occasionally  appeared  in  my  life  that  I  am  able 
to  be  here  to-night  to  address  you  as  comrades  of  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  United  States.  [Great  applause.]  It  is  an  association  great 
in  its  achievement  and  altogether  worthy  of  perpetuation  until  the 
last  of  its  members  have  fallen  into  an  honorable  grave.  It  is 
not  my  purpose  to-night  to  address  you  in  an  extended  speech,  but 
only  to  say  that,  whether  walking  with  you  in  the  private  pursuits 
of  life,  or  holding  a  place  of  official  responsibility,  I  can  never,  in 
either,  forget  those  who  upheld  the  flag  of  this  Nation  in  those  days 
when  it  was  in  peril.  Everything  that  was  worthy  of  preservation 
in  our  history  past,  everything  that  is  glowing  and  glorious  in  the 
future,  which  we  confront,  turned  upon  the  issue  of  that  strife  in 
which  you  were  engaged.  Will  you  permit  me  to  wish  for  each  of 
you  a  life  full  of  all  sweetness,  and  that  each  of  you  may  preserve, 


228  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

uudimmed,  the  love  for  the  flag  which  called  you  from  your  homes 
to  stand  under  its  folds  amid  the  shock  of  battle  and  amid  dying 
men.  I  believe  there  are  indications  to-day  in  this  country  of  a 
revived  love  for  the  flag.  [Applause.  ]  I  could  wish  that  no  Amer- 
ican citizen  would  look  upon  it  without  saluting  it,  [Loud  ap- 
plause. ] 


BOSTON,  AUGUST  12. 
G.  A.  R.  National  Encampment. 

THE  morning  of  August  12  the  President  and  the  sev- 
eral members  of  his  Cabinet,  with  Vice-President  Morton, 
Governor  Brackett,  Mayor  Hart,  General  Sherman, 
Governor  Dillingham  and  staff,  of  Vermont;  Governor 
Davis,  of  Ehode  Island ;  Hon.  William  McKinley,  Hon. 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan,  Mrs.  R.  A. 
Alger,  Mrs.  McKee,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Coolidge,  and  Lillian 
Nordica,  the  prima  donna,  reviewed  the  grand  parade  of 
the  veterans  from  a  stand  in  Copley  Square.  As  the  head 
of  the  great  column  appeared,  led  by  Commander-in-Chief 
R.  A.  Alger,  with  mounted  staff  and  escort  numbering 
600  officers,  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  arose  and  sa- 
luted the  veterans.  General  Alger  and  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler 
reviewed  the  column  from  a  stand  in  Adams  Square.  The 
parade  was  five  hours  and  thirty-five  minutes  in  passing. 

In  the  evening  the  Mayor's  Club  of  Boston  tendered  a  ban- 
quet to  President  Harrison  and  other  distinguished  vis- 
itors. Mayor  Fisher,  of  Waltham,  introduced  the  Chief 
Executive,  who  said : 

Mr.  Chairman— I  wish  only  to  thank  you  for  this  cordial  wel- 
come. Being  upon  my  feet,  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  here 
my  deep  sense  of  gratitude  for  all  the  evidences  of  friendliness 
which  have  been  shown  me  during  my  brief  stay  in  Boston.  The 
President  of  the  United  States,  whosoever  he  may  have  been,  from 
the  first  to  the  last,  has  always  found  in  the  citizenship  of  Massa- 
chusetts stanch  supporters  of  the  Union's  Constitution.  [Applause.  ] 
It  has  never  occurred  that  he  has  called  upon  this  great  common- 


HARRISONS   SPEECHES.  229 

wealth  for  support  that  it  has  not  been  cordially  and  bravely  ren 
clered.  In  this  magnificent  parade  which  we  have  seen  to-day  of 
the  survivors  of  the  Massachusetts  regiments  in  the  war  for  the 
Union,  and  in  this  magnificent  parade  of  the  Sons  of  Veterans, 
coming  on  now  to  take  the  fathers'  place  in  civil  life  and  to  stand 
as  they  were  in  their  day  as  bulwarks  of  the  Nation's  defence,  we 
have  seen  a  magnificent  evidence  of  what  Massachusetts  has  done 
in  defence  of  the  Union  and  of  the  flag,  and  in  these  young 
men  sure  promise  of  what  she  would  do  again  if  the  exigencies 
should  call  upon  her  to  give  her  blood  in  a  similar  cause.  [Ap- 
plause. ] 

Let  me  again  cordially  thank  you  for  your  interest  and  friendli- 
ness and  to  bid  you  good-night,  and,  as  I  must  leave  you  to  night  for 
Washington,  to  hope  that  the  closing  exercises  of  this  grand  and 
instructive  week  may  be  pleasant,  and  as  the  outcome  of  it  all  that 
there  may  be  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  you  all,  and  of  these  com- 
rades of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  a  newer  love  for  the 
flag  and  for  the  Constitution,  and  that  this  may  all  inure  to  us  in 
social,  family,  and  public  life.  [Applause  and  cheers.] 

Quitting  the  Mayor's  banquet,  the  President  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  with  Admiral  Gherardi  and  staff,  pro- 
ceeded to  Mechanics'  Hall,  where  a  joint  reception  of  the 
Grand  Army  and  Woman's  Relief  Corps  was  in  progress. 
At  least  15,000  people  greeted  the  arrival  of  the  distin- 
guished visitors.  On  the  platform  with  the  President's 
party  were  Miss  Florence  Barker,  first  President  Woman's 
Relief  Corps;  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  National  Presi- 
dent; Miss  Clara  Barton,  President  Red  Cross  Associa- 
tion; Mrs.  Mary  E.  Knowles,  Massachusetts  Department 
President;  Mrs.  Cheney,  National  Secretary ;  Mrs.  Lynch, 
National  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Nichols,  National  Inspector  of 
the  Relief  Corps;  Department  Commander  T.  S.  Clarkson, 
Nebraska;  Department  Commander  P.  H.  Darling,  Ohio; 
Governor  Brackett  and  Congressman  McKinley.  George 
H.  Innis,  Commander  Massachusetts  Department,  wel- 
comed the  visiting  comrades.  Other  speakers  were  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  Commander-in-Chief  Alger,  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent Morton. 

General  Harrison  was  introduced  as  Comrade  Harrison, 


230  HARRISOX'S  SPEECHES. 

President  of  the   United    States,   and   was  greeted   with 
tremendous  applause.     He  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
— I  had  impressions  both  pleasurable  and  painful  as  I  looked  upon 
the  great  procession  of  veterans  which  swept  through  the  streets  of 
this  historic  capital  to-day ;  pleasurable  in  the  contemplation  of 
so  many  faces  of  those  who  shared  together  the  perils  and  glories  of 
the  great  struggle  for  the  Union ;  sensations  of  a  mournful  sort  as 
I  thought  how  seldom  we  should  meet  again.  Not  may  times  more 
here.  As  I  have  stood  in  the  great  national  cemetery  at  Arlington 
and  have  seen  those  silent  battalions  of  the  dead,  I  have  thought 
how  swiftly  the  reaper  is  doing  his  work  and  how  soon  in  the 
scattered  cemeteries  of  the  land  the  ashes  of  all  the  soldiers  of 
the  great  war  shall  be  gathered  to  honored  graves.  And  yet  I  could 
not  help  but  feel  that  in  the  sturdy  tread  of  those  battalions  there 
was  yet  strength  of  heart  and  limb  that  would  not  be  withheld 
if  a  present  peril  should  confront  the  Nation  that  you  love. 
[Applause.]  And  if  Arlington  is  the  death,  we  see  to-day  in  the 
springing  step  of  those  magnificent  battalions  of  the  Sons  of 
Veterans  the  resurrection.  [Applause.  J  They  are  coming  on  to 
take  our  places ,  the  Nation  will  not  be  defenceless  when  we  are 
gone,  but  those  who  have  read  about  the  firesides  of  the  veterans' 
homes,  in  which  they  have  been  born  and  reared,  the  lessons 
of  patriotism  and  the  stories  of  heroism  will  come  fresh  armed  to 
any  conflict  thab  may  confront  us  in  the  future.  [Applause.] 

And  so  to-night  we  may  gather  from  this  magnificent  spectacle 
a  fresh  and  strong  sense  of  security  for  the  permanency  of  our 
country  and  our  free  institutions.  I  thought  it  altogether  proper 
that  I  should  take  a  brief  furlough  from  official  duties  at  Washing- 
ton to  mingle  with  you  here  to-day  as  a  comrade  [applause],  be- 
cause every  President  of  the  United  States  must  realize  that  the 
strength  of  the  Government,  its  defence  in  war,  the  army  that  is 
to  muster  under  its  banner  when  our  Nation  is  assailed,  is  to  be 
found  here  in  the  masses  of  our  people.  [Applause  and  cries  of 
"Good!"]  And  so,  as  my  furlough  is  almost  done,  and  the  train 
is  already  waiting  that  must  bear  me  back  to  Washington,  I  can 
only  express  again  the  cordial,  sincere,  and  fraternal  interest  which 
I  feel  this  day  in  meeting  you  all.  I  can  only  hope  that  God  will 
so  order  the  years  that  are  left  to  you  that  for  you  and  those  who 
are  dear  to  you  they  may  be  ordered  in  all  gentleness  and  sweet- 
ness, in  all  prosperity  and  success,  and  that,  when  at  last  the  com- 
rades who  survive  you  shall  wrap  the  flag  of  the  Union  about  your 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  231 

body  and  bear  it  to  the  grave,  you  may  die  in  peace  and   iii  the 
hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection  !     [Applause.  J 


CRESSON,   PENNSYLVANIA,   SEPTEMBER  13. 

NEARLY  1,000  veterans  from  the  several  G.  A.  R.  posts 
of  Altoona,  Tyronne,  and  Holidaysburg  visited  Cresson  on 
September  13,  1890,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  their  respects 
to  President  Harrison.  General  Ekin  and  Col.  Theo. 
Burchfield  headed  the  delegation.  Other  prominent  vet- 
erans were  Post  Commanders  Painter,  Beighel,  Lewis,  and 
Calvin;  J.  C.  Walters,  W.  H.  Fentiman,  Rob't  Howe, 
Maj.  John  R.  Garden,  George  Kuhn,  William  Aiken, 
Oliver  Sponsler,  Wm.  Guyer,  Hon.  J.  W.  Curry,  Capt. 
Joseph  W.  Gardner,  and  ex-Mayor  Breth,  of  Altoona. 
The  President  received  the  veterans  at  the  Mountain 
House.  After  the  reception  J.  D.  Hicks  delivered  a  con- 
gratulatory address  on  behalf  of  the  veterans. 

General  Harrison,  speaking  from  the  balcony  of  the 
hotel,  warmly  thanked  his  comrades  for  their  good  wishes, 
and  in  mentioning  the  events  of  the  war  referred  feelingly 
to  the  tragic  death  of  the  great  Lincoln  and  the  memorable 
words  of  Garfield  on  that  occasion.  His  reference  to  the 
Constitution-and  the  flag,  and  the  love  of  the  people  for 
them,  elicited  a  hearty  response.  He  concluded  as  follows : 
"Now,  my  comrades,  who  have  suffered  and  still  suffer 
for  your  country,  I  wish  in  this  world  all  good  to  you  and 
your  dear  ones,  and  in  the  world  to  come  joy  everlasting. " 


OSCEOLA,  PENNSYLVANIA,  SEPTEMBER  20. 

DURING  the  stay  of  the  President  and  his  family  at  Cres- 
son Springs  in  September,  1890,  they  made  an  excursion 
through  the  celebrated  Clearfield  coal  regions,  under  the 
guidance  of  Frank  L.  Sheppard,  General  Superintendent  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  Geo.  W.  Boyd,  Ass't  Gen'l  Pas- 


232  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

senger  Agent,  Gen.  D.  H.  Hastings,  and  S.  S.  Blair.  The 
party  comprised  the  President  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  J.  R.  McKee,  Mrs.  Dimmick,  and  Miss  Alice  Sanger, 
accompanied  by  Hon.  John  Patton,  of  Curwensville,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Dill,  of  Clearfield,  and  F.  N.  Barksdale. 
The  first  point  visited  was  Osceola,  where  5,000  people 
tendered  the  President  a  rousing  reception.  The  Commit- 
tee of  Reception  were  Geo.  M.  Brisbin,  D.  R.  Good,  R.  J. 
Walker,  T.  C.  Heims,  and  J.  R.  Paisley.  The  veterans 
of  McLarren  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  acted  as  an  escort  through 
the  town  from  one  depot  to  the  other.  The  President 
briefly  thanked  the  veterans  and  citizens  for  extending 
him  such  a  cordial  reception. 


HOUTZDALE,  PENNSYLVANIA,  SEPTEMBER  20. 

ARRIVED  at  Houtzdale,  about  noon  Saturday,  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  party  were  welcomed  by  an  assemblage  num- 
bering fully  10, 000.  They  were  met  at  Osceola  by  an  escort 
committee  consisting  of  G.  W.  Dickey,  Abe  Feldman, 
Julius  Viebahn,  Thos.  Rolands,  B.  W.  Hess,  W.  E.  Meek, 
W.  C.  Davis,  W.  B.  Hamilton,  J.  V.  Henderson,  J.  B. 
McGrath,  James  White,  D.  W.  Smith,  John  Charlton, 
W.  H.  Patterson,  and  Thomas  Byers. 

All  work  in  the  mines  and  stores  was  suspended  for  the 
day,  and  the  visit  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  was  celebrated 
with  a  grand  parade  and  demonstration  directed  by  Chief 
Burgess  John  Argyle,  aided  by  the  G.  A.  R.  veterans. 
The  President  was  received  by  the  following  committee  of 
prominent  citizens:  W.  Irvin  Shaw,  Esq.,  of  the  Clear- 
field  County  Bar;  W.  C.  Langsford,  Alex.  Monteith,  John 
F.  Farrell,  Geo.  P.  Jones,  Joseph  Delehunt,  Harry  Roach, 
Ad.  Hanson,  S.  T.  Henderson,  R.  R.  Fleming,  and  E.  J. 
Duffy.  The  veterans  of  Wm.  H.  Kinkead  Post  acted  as 
a  guard  of  honor  to  the  President  during  the  parade. 

A  notable  incident  of  the  demonstration  was  the  recep- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  233 

tion  by  the  children  of  the  parochial  school.  After  the 
parade  the  formal  reception  of  the  distinguished  visitors 
took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  great  assemblage.  John 
F.  Farrell  presided,  and  introduced  Chairman  W.  I.  Shaw, 
who  delivered  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome  on  behalf  of 
the  citizens. 

President  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  very  highly  appre- 
ciate your  cordial  welcome.  I  did  not  need  the  assurance  of  him 
who  has  spoken  in  your  name  that  we  are  welcome  in  this  home 
of  profit  and  industry.  As  I  have  passed  along  the  streets,  and  as 
I  now  look  into  your  eyes,  I  have  read  welcome  in  every  face.  I 
do  not  regard  this  greeting  as  personal.  How  can  it  be,  since  you 
look  into  my  face  as  I  into  yours  for  the  first  time?  I  assume  that 
in  this  demonstration  you  are  evidencing  your  loyalty  and  fidelity 
to  the  Government  of  which  we  are  all  citizens. 

You  welcome  me  as  one  who,  for  the  time  being  by  your  choice, 
is  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  law.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be 
a  citizen  of  this  country,  and  the  privilege  has  its  corresponding 
obligations.  This  Government  can  never  be  wrecked  by  the  treason 
or  fault  of  those  who  for  the  time  are  placed  in  public  position  so 
long  as  the  people  are  true  to  the  principles  of  the  Government  and 
to  the  flag.  [Applause.  ]  Set  your  love  upon  the  flag  and  that 
which  it  represents.  Be  ready,  if  occasion  should  call,  to  defend 
it,  as  my  brave  comrades  did  in  the  time  of  its  greatest  peril. 
Honor  it  in  peace,  cherish  your  loyal  institutions,  civil  and  edu- 
cational ;  maintain  social  order  in  your  community,  let  every  one 
have  respect  for  the  rights  #nd  privileges  of  others  while  asserting 
his  own. 

These  are  the  springs  of  our  national  and  social  life.  If  these 
springs  are  kept  pure  and  strong  the  great  river  they  form  will 
ever  flow  on  in  purity  and  majesty.  If  local  interests  are  carefully 
preserved  the  general  good  is  secured,  and  all  our  people,  each  in 
his  own  place — the  place  where  he  labors,  the  place  where  he  lives, 
the  roof  under  which  his  family  is  sheltered — will  continue  to 
enjoy  the  benison  of  liberty  in  the  fear  of  God. 

To  every  one  of  you,  those  who  come  from  the  village  shops, 
those  who  come  from  the  mines  and  every  vocation  of  life  to  join 
in  this  welcome,  let  me  declare  that  I  have  no  other  purpose  as 
President  of  the  United  States  than  to  so  administer  my  office  as  to 
promote  the  general  good  of  all  our  people.  [Great  applause.] 


234  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


PHILIPSBURG,  PENNSYLVANIA,  SEPTEMBER  20. 

OTHER  points  visited  were  Clearfield,  where  the  veter- 
ans of  Lamar  Post  and  Colonel  Barrett  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
mittee received  the  distinguished  excursionists.  At  Cur- 
wens  ville  the  party  became  the  guests  of  A.  E.  Patton, 
and  the  President  shook  hands  with  1,500  residents. 

Philipsburg  was  reached  at  3  P.M.  The  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  town  welcomed  the  President.  The  Reception 
Committee  comprised  Major  H.  C.  Warfel,  Hon.  Chester 
Munson,  J.  B.  Childs,  O.  P.  Jones,  S.  S.  Crissman,  W. 
E.  Irwin,  Dr.  T.  B.  Potter,  Capt,  J.  H.  Boring,  M.  G. 
Lewis,  Henry  Lehman,  H.  K.  Grant,  Al.  Jones,  W.  T. 
Bair,  Geo.  W.  Wythes,  A.  B.  Herd,  John  Nuttall,  and 
A.  J.  Graham.  The  President  and  Mrs.  Harrison  were 
driven  through  the  city,  which  was  elaborately  decorated. 

Returning  to  the  station  Mayor  Warfel  introduced  the 
President,  who  said : 

Citizens  of  Philipsburg— I  thank  you  for  this  very  cordial  expres- 
sion of  your  esteem.  You  must  excuse  my  not  addressing  you  at 
any  length  because  of  the  very  limited  time  at  our  disposal.  I 
again  thank  you. 


WESTERN  TOUR,  OCTOBER,  1890. 

ON  the  morning  of  October  G,  1890,  President  Harrison 
left  Washington  to  attend  the  reunion  of  the  First  Brigade, 
Twentieth  Army  Corps,  at  Galesburg,  111.,  and  to  visit 
points  in  Iowa,  Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Indiana.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Secretary  Tracy,  Gen.  Charles  H.  Gros- 
venor,  Private  Secretary  Halford,  Marshal  Daniel  M. 
Ransdell,  Capt.  Wm.  M.  Meredith,  Gen.  T.  J.  Morgan, 
and  E.  F.  Tibbott,  stenographer. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  235 


CLIFTON  FORGE,  VIRGINIA,  OCTOBER  6. 

THE  trip  through  Virginia  was  uneventful.  At  Staun- 
ton  the  President  was  serenaded,  and  among  those  who  met 
him  were  ex-Congressman  Desendorf,  of  Virignia,  and 
David  Stewart,  of  Indianapolis.  Clifton  Forge  was  reached 
at  twilight,  and  nearly  1,000  residents  heartily  cheered  the 
President  and  called  for  a  speech.  In  response  he  said : 

My  Friends — I  hope  you  will  excuse  me  from  making  a  speech. 
I  have  travelled  for  tho  first  time  over  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  I  have  noticed  with  great  interest  and  pleasure  the 
development  which  is  being  made  along  the  road  of  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  State  of  Virginia.  What  I  have  seen  moves  me  to 
offer  my  sincere  congratulations  on  what  you  have  already  accom- 
plished, and  what  is  surely  in  store  for  you  if  you  but  make  use 
of  your  resources  and  opportunities.  [Cheers.  ] 


LAWRENCEBURG,   INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

AT  Cincinnati,  Tuesday  morning,  the  party  was  joined 
by  Archibald  Eaton,  the  President's  nephew;  Col.  W.  B. 
Shattuc,  Col.  John  C.  New,  and  a  committee  of  escort 
from  Lawrenceburg,  comprising  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Lucas, 
Archibald  Shaw,  John  O.  Cravens,  John  K.  Thompson, 
and  Valentine  J.  Koehler.  Near  North  Bend,  Ohio,  the 
old  Harrison  homestead  was  reached,  and  the  train  came 
to  a  stop  just  abreast  the  house  in  which  Benjamin  Harri- 
son was  born,  and  but  a  few  yards  from  the  white  shaft 
that  marks  the  tomb  of  his  illustrious  ancestor,  President 
William  Henry  Harrison.  The  occasion  was  not  for 
words,  and  as  the  President  passed  to  the  rear  platform  he 
was  unaccompanied  by  the  rest  of  the  party,  who  left  him 
to  the  memories  that  the  scenes  of  his  childhood  and 
youth  called  forth. 

Arrived  at  Lawrenceburg  the  President  was  visibly 
affected  at  meeting  many  old  friends  and  neighbors  of 


23G  HAKRISOX'S  SPEECHES. 

years  ago.  Among  the  leading  citizens  who  welcomed 
him  were:  John  Isherwood,  Z.  Heustes,  Peter  Braun, 
Dr.  J.  D.  Gatch,  Frank  R.  Dorman,  D.  W.  C.  Fitch,  J. 
H.  Burkham,  W.  H.  Rucker,  Wm.  Probasco,  Louis  Adler, 
H.  G.  Kidd,  John  S.  Dorman,  John  B.  Gamier,  A.  D. 
Cook,  Chas.  Decker,  John  F.  Cook,  Dr.  T.  C.  Craig, 
C.  J.  B.  Ragin,  J.  E.  Larimer,  D.  E.  Sparks,  and  Capt. 
John  Shaw;  also,  M.  C.  Garber,  of  Madison,  Robert 
Cain,  of  Brookville,  and  Alfred  Shaw,  of  Vevay,  Ind. 

The  President  addressed  the  large  assembly  in  a  voice 
heavy  with  emotion.  He  said : 

My  Friends — I  want  to  thank  you  very  cordially  for  this  greet- 
ing. All  the  scenes  about  here  are  very  familiar  to  me.  This  town 
of  Lawrenceburg  is  the  first  village  of  my  childish  recollections, 
and  as  I  approached  it  this  morning,  past  the  earliest  home  of  my 
recollections,  the  home  in  which  my  childhood  and  early  manhood 
were  spent,  memories  crowded  in  upon  me  that  were  very  full  of  in- 
terest, very  full  of  pleasure,  and  yet  full  of  sadness.  They  bring  back 
to  me  those  who  once  made  the  old  home  very  dear,  the  most  precious 
spot  on  earth.  I  have  passed  with  bowed  head  the  place  where  they 
rest.  We  are  here  in  our  generation,  with  the  work  of  those  who  have 
gone  before  upon  us.  Let  us  see,  each  of  us,  that  in  the  family,  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  in  the  State,  we  do  at  least  with  equal  cour- 
age, and  grace,  and  kindness,  the  work  which  was  so  bravely, 
kindly,  and  graciously  done  by  those  who  filled  our  places  fifty  years 
ago.  Now,  for  I  must  hurry  on,  to  these  old  friends,  and  to  these 
new  friends  who  have  come  in  since  Lawrenceburg  was  familiar 
to  me,  I  extend  again  my  hearty  thanks  for  this  welcome,  and  beg, 
in  parting,  to  introduce  the  only  member  of  my  Cabinet  who  ac- 
companies me,  General  Tracy,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


NORTH  VERNON,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

AT  North  Vernoii,  Jennings  County,  many  old  acquaint- 
ances greeted  the  President,  among  them  J.  C.  Cope,  John 
Fable,  P.  C.  McGannon,  and  others.  Acknowledging  the 
repeated  cheers  of  the  assembly,  the  President  said : 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  237 

My  Friends — I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  and  very  much  obliged 
to  you  for  your  pleasurable  greeting.  It  is  always  a  pleasure  to 
see  my  old  Indiana  friends.  We  have  had  this  morning  a  delight- 
ful ride  across  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  one  that  has  given 
me  a  great  deal  of  refreshment  and  pleasure.  [Cheers.  ]  Let  me 
again  assure  you  that  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  this  evi- 
dence of  your  friendship.  I  hope  you  will  excuse  me  from  further 
speech  on  this  occasion.  It  gives  me  pleasure  now,  my  fellow -citi- 
zens, to  introduce  to  you  General  Tracy,  of  New  York,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  who  accompanies  me  on  this  trip.  [Cheers.] 


SEYMOUR,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

AT  Seymour,  Jackson  County,  2,000  citizens  gave  evi- 
dence of  General  Harrison's  popularity  in  that  town. 
Among  the  prominent  residents  who  welcomed  him  were 
Hon.  W.  K.  Marshall,  Louis  Schneck,  Travis  Carter,  Ph. 
Wilhelm,  W.  F.  Peters,  J.  B.  Morrison,  R.  F.  White,  S. 
E.  Carter,  John  A.  Ross,  John  A.  Weaver,  L.  M.  Mains, 
John  A.  Gooclale,  Theo.  B.  Ridlen,  and  V.  H.  Monroe. 

•After  he  had  introduced  Secretary  Tracy,  the  Presi- 
dent said : 

My  Friends — I  feel  that  I  ought  to  thank  you  for  your  friendly 
greeting  this  beautiful  morning.  It  is  a  pleasure  indeed  to  me  to 
greet  so  many  of  you.  Again  I  thank  you  for  this  welcome.  A 
request  has  just  been  handed  me  that  I  speak  a  few  minutes  to  the 
school  children  here  assembled.  I  scarcely  know  what  to  say  to 
them,  except  that  I  have  a  great  interest  in  them,  and  the  country 
has  a  great  interest  in  them.  Those  who,  like  myself,  have  passed 
the  meridian  of  life  realize  more  than  younger  men  that  the  places 
we  now  hold  and  the  responsibilities  we  now  carry  in  society  and 
in  all  social  and  business  relations  must  devolve  upon  those  who 
are  now  in  the  school.  Our  State  has  magnificently  provided  for 
their  education,  so  that  none  of  them  need  be  ignorant,  and  I  am 
sure  that  in  these  happy  homes  the  fathers  and  mothers  are  not 
neglecting  their  duties,  but  are  instilling  into  these  young  minds 
morality  and  respect  for  the  law  which  must  crown  intelligence  in 
order  to  make  them. 


238  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


SHOALS,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

THE  citizens  of  Shoals,  the  county  seat  of  Martin  County, 
gave  the  President  a  most  cordial  reception.  Prominent 
among  those  friends  who  welcomed  him  were  R.  E.  Hunt, 
J.  A.  Chenoweth,  J.  P.  Albaugh,  J.  B.  Freeman,  J.  T. 
Rogers,  M.  Shirey,  S.  P.  Yeune,  H.  Q.  Houghton,  James 
Mahany,  C.  H.  Mohr,  S.  1ST.  Gwin,  F.  J.  Hasten,  C.  S. 
Dobbins,  and  1ST.  H.  Mat-singer. 

Responding  to  their  cheers  and  calls  the  President  said : 

My  Felloiv- citizens — I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.  My  trip  this 
morning  is  more  like  a  holiday  than  I  have  had  for  a  longtime.  I 
am  glad  to  see  the  cordiality  of  your  welcome.  It  makes  me  feel 
that  I  am  still  held  somewhat  in  the  esteem  of  the  people  whose 
friendship  I  so  very  much  covet  and  desire  to  retain.  [Cheers.] 


SULLIVAN,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

IT  was  an  agreeable  surprise  to  the  President  to  find 
several  thousand  people  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  greet 
him  at  the  town  of  Sullivan.  Of  prominent  townsmen 
there  were  present  J.  H.  Clugage,  G.  W.  Buff,  Rob't  H. 
Crowder,  John  T.  Hays,  C.  P.  Lacey,  C.  F.  Briggs,  O. 
H.  Crowder,  S.  Goodman,  R.  B.  Mason,  W.  A.  Bell,  Jo- 
seph Hayden,  John  H.  Dickerson,  and  R.  F.  Knotts. 

In  answer  to  repeated  calls  for  a  speech  the  President 
said: 

My  Friends — Some  of  you  have  requested  that  I  would  give  you 
a  little  talk.  The  range  of  things  that  I  can  say  on  an  occasion  like 
this  is  very  limited,  but  one  thing,  though  it  seems  to  involve 
repetition,  I  can  say  to  you  very  heartily  and  very  sincerely :  I  am 
very  glad  to  again  look  into  the  faces  of  my  Indiana  friends.  I 
trust  I  have  friends  that  are  not  in  Indiana,  but  my  earliest  and 
my  best  are  here.  Again  I  thank  you.  [Cheers.] 


HARBISON'S  SPEECHES.  239 


TERRE  HAUTE,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  7. 

THE  principal  demonstration  of  the  day  was  at  Terre 
Haute,  where  fully  10,000  people  greeted  the  President. 
The  following  Reception  Committee  escorted  the  party  from 
Vincennes :  Hon.  W.  R.  McKeen,  H.  Hulman,  Sr.,  Judge 

C.  F.  McNutt,  George  W.  Faris,  Samuel  Huston,  A.  Herz, 
W.  C.  Isbell,  R.  A.  Campbell,  Dr.  Rob't  Van  Valzah,  Jacob 

D.  Early,  George  E.  Pugh,   A.  G.  Austin,  F.  E.  Benja- 
min, and  B.  G.  Hudiiut.     En  route  to  the  speaker's  stand 
every  bell  and  steam  whistle  in  the  city  added  its  tribute 
to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  occasion.     This  unique  Hoosier 
welcome  was  arranged  by  D.  C.  Greiner.     Other  leading 
citizens  participating  prominently  in  the  reception  were : 
D.  W.  Minshall,  N.  Filbeck,  Judge  B.  E.  Rhoades,  S.  C. 
Beach,  J.  S.  Tally,  Senator  Bischawsky,  G.  W.  Bement, 
Jay  Cummings,  Geo.  M.  Allen,  and  P.  S.  Westfall. 

Mayor  Frank  C.  Danaldsoii  made  the  welcoming  ad- 
dress, and  concluded  by  introducing  President  Harrison, 
who  said : 

Mr.  Mayor,  Fellow  citizens  of  Indiana,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen— I 
very  heartily  appreciate  this  large  gathering  assembled  to  greet  me. 
I  very  heartily  appreciate  the  welcome  which  your  kind  and  ani- 
mated faces,  as  well  as  the  spoken  words  of  the  chief  officer  of  your 
city,  have  extended  to  me.  I  have  known  this  pretty  city  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  and  have  watched  its  progress  and  growth.  It 
has  always  been  the  home  of  some  of  my  most  cherished  personal 
friends,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that  your  city  is  in  an  increasing 
degree  prosperous,  and  your  people  contented  and  happy.  I  am 
glad  to  know  that  the  local  industries  which  Jiave  been  established 
in  your  midst  are  to-day  busy  in  producing  their  varied  products, 
and  that  these  find  a  ready  market  at  remunerative  prices.  I  was 
told  as  we  approached  your  city  that  there  was  not  an  idle  wheel 
in  Terre  Haute,  It  is  very  pleasant  to  know  that  this  prosperity  is 
so  generally  shared  by  all  our  people.  Hopefulness,  and  cheer,  and 
courage  tend  to  bring  and  maintain  good  times. 

We  differ  widely  in  our  views  of  public  politics,  but  I  trust 
every  one  of  us  is  devoted  to  the  flag  which  represents  the  unity 


240  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  power  of  our  country  and  to  the  best  interests  of  the  people, 
as  we  are  given  to  see  and  understand  those  interests.  [Applause.  ] 
We  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  most  perfect  system  of  government 
that  has  ever  been  devised  for  the  use  of  men.  We  are  under  fewer 
restraints  ;  the  individual  faculties  and  liberties  have  wider  range 
here  than  in  any  other  land.  Here  a  sky  of  hope  is  arched  over 
the  head  of  every  ambitious,  industrious,  and  aspiring  young  man. 
There  are  no  social  conditions  ;  there  are  no  unneeded  legal  restric- 
tions. Let  us  continue  to  cherish  these  institutions  and  to  main- 
tain them  in  their  best  development.  Let  us  see  that  as  far  as  our 
influence  can  bring  it  to  pass  they  are  conducted  for  the  general 
good.  [Applause.] 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  bring  into  your  city  to-day  one  who  is  the 
successor  as  the  head  of  the  Navy  Department  of  that  distinguished 
citizen  of  Indiana  who  is  especially  revered  and  loved  by  all  the 
people  of  Terre  Haute,  but  is  also  embraced  in  the  wider  love  of 
all  the  citizens  of  Indiana — Col.  Richard  W.  Thompson.  Let  me 
present  to  you  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  of  New  York,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy.  [Cheers.] 


DANYILLE,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  7. 

DANVILLE  was  reached  at  (>  P.M.  The  roar  of  cannon 
sounded  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  Prairie  State.  Fully 
10,000  people  were  assembled  around  the  pavilion  erected 
near  the  station.  Among  the  prominent  residents  who 
received  the  President  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  were : 
Hon.  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Mayor  W.  R.  Lawrence,  Justice 
J.  W.  Wilkin,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  Col. 
Samuel  Stansbury,  H.  P.  Blackburn,  W.  R.  Jewell,  M. 
J.  Barger,  W.  C.  Tuttle,  Henry  Brand,  and  Capt.  J.  G. 
Hull. 

Congressman  Cannon  introduced  the  President,  who 
said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  regret  that  the  time  of  our  arrival  and 
the  brief  time  we  can  give  you  should  make  it  so  inconvenient  for 
you  who  have  assembled  here  to  greet  us.  Yet,  though  the  dark- 
ness shuts  out  your  faces,  I  cannot  omit  to  acknowledge  with  the 
most  heartfelt  gratitude  the  enthusiastic  greeting  of  this  large  as- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  241 

sembly  of  my  fellow -citizens.  It  is  quite  worthwhile,  I  think,  for 
those  who  are  charged  with  great  public  affairs  now  and  then  to 
turn  aside  from  the  routine  of  official  duties  to  look  into  the  faces 
of  the  people.  [Applause.]  It  is  well  enough  that  all  public  offi- 
cers should  be  reminded  that  under  our  republican  institutions  the 
repository  of  all  power,  the  originator  of  all  policy,  is  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  [Great  applause.]  I  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  visiting  this  rich  and  prosperous  section  of  your  great  State 
before,  and  am  glad  to  notice  that,  if  the  last  year  has  not  yielded 
an  average  return  to  your  farms,  already  the  promise  of  the  coming 
year  is  seen  in  your  well- tilled  fields.  Let  me  thank  you  again 
and  bid  you  good-night.  [Great  applause.] 


CHAMPAIGN,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  7. 

AT  Urbana,  111.,  Secretary  Tracy  addressed  several  thou- 
sand residents.  At  Champaign  the  citizens  were  attended 
by  the  students  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  who  received 
the  President  with  their  college  cheer.  Among  the  lead- 
ing citizens  who  participated  in  welcoming  the  Chief 
Executive  were  Dr.  L.  S.  Wilcox,  John  W.  Spalding, 
F.K.  Robinson,  P.  W.  Woody,  H.  H.  Harris,  J.  L.  Ray, 
T.  J.  Smith,  H.  Swannell,  Ozias  Riley,  A.  P.  Cunning- 
ham, J.  B.  Harris,  Edward  Bailey,  Solon  Philbrick,  C. 
J.  Sabin,  W.  S.  Maxwell,  L.  W.  Faulkner,  J.  W.  Mulli- 
ken,  Judge  C.  B.  Smith,  W.  P.  Lockwood,  W.  A.  Heath, 
Geo.  F.  Beardsley,  Hon.  Abel  Harwood,  W.  H.  Munhall, 
A.  W.  Spalding,  and  C.  M.  Sherfey. 

President  Harrison  said : 

My  Good  Friends— It  is  very  evident  that  there  is  a  large  repre- 
sentation here  of  the  Greek  societies.  [Cheers.  ]  I  thank  you  for 
this  greeting.  We  are  on  our  way  to  Galesburg  to  unite  with  my 
old  comrades  in  arms  of  the  First  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Twen- 
tieth Army  Corps,  in  a  reunion.  I  had  not  expected  here,  or  at 
any  other  intermediate  point  on  the  journey,  to  make  addresses, 
but  I  cannot  fail  to  thank  these  young  gentlemen  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  for  the  interest  their  presence  gives  to  this  meet- 
ing. Your  professors,  no  doubt,  give  you  all  needed  admonition 
and  advice,  and  you  will,  I  am  sure,  thank  me  for  not  adding  to 
your  burdens.  Good -night.  [Cheers.] 

13 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


PEORIA,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  8. 

THE  third  day  of  the  President's  journey  found  him  in 
Peoria,  where  he  was  warmly  welcomed  by  Mayor  Charles 
C.  Clarke  at  the  head  of  the  following  committee  of  prom- 
inent citizens  :  Alexander  G.  Tyng,  Jr.  ,  President  Board  of 
Trade;  John  D.  Soules,  President  Travelling  Men's  Asso- 
ciation ;  editor  Eugene  Baldwin,  and  Hon.  Julius  S.  Starr. 
Miss  Elsie  Leslie  Lyde,  the  child  actress,  on  behalf  of  the 
citizens  and  the  Grand  Army,  presented  the  President  with 
a  beautiful  bouquet,  which  the  Chief  Magistrate  acknowl- 
edged by  kissing  the  little  orator  in  the  presence  of  the 
great  assemblage. 

Mayor  Clarke  introduced  the  President,  who  spoke  as 
follows  : 

My  Fellow-  citizens—  It  is  not  possible  that  I  should  introduce  this 
morning  any  serious  theme.  I  have  greatly  enjoyed  this  trip 
through  my  own  State  and  yours,  sisters  in  loyalty  and  sacrifice  for 
the  Union,  sisters  also  in  prosperity  and  honor.  I  find  myself 
simply  saying  thank  you,  but  with  an  increasing  sense  of  the  kind- 
ness of  the  people.  If  anything  could  add  to  the  solemn  sense  of 
responsibility  which  my  official  oath  places  upon  me,  it  would  be 
these  evidences  of  friendliness  and  confidence.  The  great  mass  of 
the  people  of  this  country  are  loyal,  loving,  dutiful  citizens,  ready 
to  support  every  faithful  officer  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  and 
to  applaud  every  honest  effort  for  their  good.  It  is  a  source  of 
great  strength  to  know  this,  and  this  morning,  not  less  from  this 
bright  sunshine  and  this  crisp  Illinois  air  than  from  these  kindly 
faces,  I  draw  an  inspiration  to  do  what  I  can,  the  very  best  I  can, 
to  promote  the  good  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  I  go  to- 
day to  meet  with  some  comrades  of  your  State  who  stood  with  me 
in  the  army  of  the  great  Union  for  the  defence  of  the  flag.  I  beg 
now  to  thank  these  comrades  of  Peoria  and  this  company  of  Na- 
tional Guards  and  all  these  friends,  and  you,  Mr.  Mayor  and  gentle- 
men of  the  Reception  Committee,  for  this  kindly  greeting,  and  to 
say  that  I  have  great  satisfaction  in  knowing  the  people  of  this 
community  are  very  prosperous.  May  that  prosperity  increase 
until  every  citizen,  even  the  humblest,  shares  it.  May  peace,  social 
order,  and  the  blessing  of  God  abide  in  every  house  is  my  parting 
wish  for  you.  [Cheers  ] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  243 

GALESBURG,    ILLINOIS,    OCTOBER  8. 
The  Public  Reception. 

DURING  the  trip  from  Peoria  the  President  and  Secretary 
Tracy  rode  a  goodly  portion  of  the  distance  on  the  locomo- 
tive with  Engineer  Frank  Hilton,  a  veteran  who  served 
in  the  President's  old  command.  Galesburg,  the  princi- 
pal objective  point  of  the  journey,  was  reached  at  noon  on 
October  8,  where  10,000  patriotic  citizens  greeted  their  ar- 
rival. Mayor  Loren  Stevens,  at  the  head  of  the  following 
committee,  received  and  welcomed  the  President :  Forrest 
F.  Cooke,  President  of  the  Day,  Judge  A.  A.  Smith,  Hon. 
H.  M.  Sisson,  Hon.  O.  F.  Price,  Maj.  H.  H.  Clay,  Z.  Beatty, 
Henry  Emerich,  James  M.  Ayres,  Francis  A.  Free,  Gersh 
Martin,  F.  C.  Rice,  C.  D.  Hendryx,  Gen.  F.  C.  Smith,  John 
Bassett,  R.  W.  Sweeney,  Sam'l  D.  Harsh,  Colonel  Phelps, 
Hon.  Philip  S.  Post,  Rev.  John  Hood,  Rev.  G.  J.  Luckey, 
H.  A.  Drake,  Matthias  O'Brien,  K.  Johnson,  C.  P.  Curtis, 
H.  C.  Miles,  Capt.  E.  O.  Atchinson,  and  Mr.  Weeks.  Fully 
2,000  veterans  participated  in  the  parade;  also  the  local 
militia,  commanded  by  Captain  Elder  and  Lieutenants 
Ridgley  and  Tompkins ;  Company  D,  Fifth  Regiment,  from 
Quincy,  Capt.  F.  B.  Nichols,  Lieutenants  Treet  and  Whip- 
pie;  Company  H,  Sixth  Regiment,  Monmouth,  Capt.  D. 
E.  Clarke,  Lieutenants  Shields  and  Turnbull ;  Company 
I,  Sixth  Regiment,  Morrison,  Capt.  W.  F.  Colebaugh, 
Lieutenants  Griffin  and  Baker. 

Arriving  at  the  Court-House  Park,  Mayor  Stevens  de- 
livered the  address  of  welcome.  President  Harrison  re- 
sponded as  follows : 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Felloiv- citizens — The  magnitude  of  this  vast  as- 
semblage to-day  fills  me  with  surprise  and  with  consternation  as 
I  am  called  to  make  this  speech  to  you.  I  came  here  to  meet  with 
the  survivors  of  my  old  brigade.  I  came  here  with  the  expectation 
that  the  day  would  chiefly  be  spent  in  their  companionship  and 
in  the  exchange  of  those  cordial  greetings  which  express  the  fond- 
ness and  love  which  we  bear  to  each  other ;  but  to  my  surprise  I 


244  HARRISOS'S  SPEECHES. 

have  found  that  here  to-day  the  First  Brigade,  for  the  first  time 
in  its  history,  has  been  captured.  One  or  two  of  them  I  have  been 
able  to  take  by  the  hand,  a  few  more  of  them  I  have  seen  as  they 
marched  by  the  reviewing  stand,  but  they  seemed  to  have  been 
swallowed  up  in  this  vast  concourse  of  their  associate  comrades 
and  their  fellow- citizens  of  Illinois.  I  hope  there  may  yet  be  a 
time  during  the  day  when  I  shall  be  able  to  take  each  by  the  hand, 
and  to  assure  them  that  in  the  years  of  separation  since  muster- 
out  day  I  have  borne  them  all  sacredly  in  my  affectionate  remem- 
brance. They  were  a  body  of  representative  soldiers,  coming  from 
these  great  central  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  and  as 
the  borders  of  those  States  touch  in  friendly  exchange,  so  the 
elbows  of  these  great  heroes  and  patriots  touched  in  the  great 
struggle  for  the  Union.  Who  shall  say  who  was  chiefest?  "Who 
shall  assign  honors  where  all  were  brave?  The  distinction  that 
Illinois  may  claim  in  connection  with  this  organization  is  that, 
given  equal  courage,  fidelity,  and  loyalty  to  every  man,  Illinois 
furnished  three -fifths  of  the  brigade.  But  possibly  I  should  with- 
hold here  those  suggestions  which  come  to  me,  and  which  will  be 
more  appropriate  when  I  meet  them  in  a  separate  organization. 

I  have  been  greatly  impressed  with  this  assemblage  to-day  in  this 
beautiful  city,  in  this  rich  and  prosperous  State.  The  thought  had 
occurred  to  me,  and  the  more  I  thought  of  it  the  more  sure  I  was 
of  the  conclusion,  that  nowhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth  except  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  under  no  flag  that  kisses  any  breeze, 
could  such  an  assemblage  as  this  have  been  gathered.  Who  are 
these?  Look  into  these  faces ;  see  the  evidences  of  contentment, 
thrift,  prosperity,  and  intelligence  that  wt>  read  in  all  these  faces. 
They  have  come  by  general  summons  from  all  these  homes,  of 
village,  city,  and  farm,  and  here  they  are  to  day  the  strength  and 
rock  of  our  security  as  a  Nation ;  the  people  who  furnished  an 
invincible  army  when  its  flag  was  in  danger;  the  people  upon 
whose  enlightened  consciences  and  God-fearing  hearts  this  country 
may  rest  with  unguarded  hope.  Where  is  the  ultimate  distribution 
of  governmental  powers?  How  can  all  the  efforts  of  President, 
cabinet  and  judges,  and  armies,  even,  serve  to  maintain  this 
country,  to  continue  it  in  its  great  career  of  prosperity,  if  there 
were  lacking  this  great  law-abiding,  liberty-loving  people  by  whom 
they  are  chosen  to  these  important  offices?  It  is  the  great  thought 
of  our  country  that  men  shall  be  governed  as  little  as  possible,  but 
full  liberty  shall  be  given  to  individual  effort,  and  that  the  re- 
straints of  law  shall  be  reserved  for  the  turbulent  and  disorderly. 
What  is  it  that  makes  our  communities  peaceful?  What  is  it  that 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  245 

makes  these  farm-houses  safe?  It  is  not  the  policemen.  It  is  not 
the  soldiers.  It  is  this  great  and  all-pervading  American  senti- 
ment that  exalts  the  la\v,  that  stands  with  threatening  warning  to 
the  law-breaker,  and,  above  all,  that  pervading  thought  that  gives 
to  every  man  what  is  his  and  claims  only  what  is  our  own.  The 
war  was  only  fought  that  the  law  might  not  lose  its  sanction  and 
its  sanctity.  If  we  had  suffered  that  loss,  dismemberment  would 
have  been  a  lesser  one.  But  we  taught  those  who  resisted  law  and 
taught  the  world  that  the  great  sentiment  of  Io3ralty  to  our  written 
laws  was  so  strong  in  this  country  that  no  associations,  combina- 
tions, or  conspiracies  could  overturn  it.  Our  Government  will 
not  fail  to  go  on  in  this  increased  career  of  development,  in  pop- 
ulation; in  wealth,  in  intelligence,  in  morality,  so  long  as  we  hold 
up  everywhere  in  the  local  communities  and  in  the  Nation  this 
great  thought  that  eveiy  man  shall  keep  the  law  which  secures 
him  in  his  own  rights,  and  shall  not  trample  upon  the  rights  of 
another.  Let  us  divide  upon  tariff  and  finance,  but  let  there  never 
be  a  division  among  the  American  people  upon  this  question,  that 
nowhere  shall  the  law  be  overturned  in  the  interests  of  anybody. 
If  it  fails  of  beneficent  purpose,  which  should  be  the  object  of  all 
law,  then  let  us  modify  it,  but  while  it  is  a  law  let  us  insist  that 
it  shall  be  obeyed.  When  we  turn  from  that  and  allow  any  other 
standard  of  living  to  be  set  up,  where  is  your  security,  where  is 
mine,  when  some  one  else  makes  convenience  more  sacred,  more 
powerful  than  the  law  of  the  land? 

I  believe  to-day  that  the  great  rock  of  our  security  is  this  deeply 
imbedded  thought  in  the  American  heart  that  does  not,  as  in  many 
of  our  Spanish- American  countries,  give  its  devotion  to  the  man, 
but  to  the  law,  the  Constitution,  and  to  the  flag.  So  that  in  that 
hour  of  gloom,  when  that  richest  contribution  of  all  gems  that 
Illinois  has  ever  set  in  our  Nation's  diadem,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
and  in  that  hour  of  the  consummation  of  his  work,  dies  by  the 
hand  of  the  assassin,  Garfield,  who  was  to  meet  a  like  fate,  might 
say  to  the  trembling  and  dismayed  people  •  "  Lincoln  is  dead,  but 
the  Government  at  Washington  still  lives." 

My  fellow-citizen?!,  to  all  those  who,  through  your  Mayor,  have 
extended  me  their  greeting,  to  all  who  are  here  assembled,  I  return 
my  most  sincere  thanks.  I  do  not  look  upon  such  assemblages 
without  profound  emotion.  They  touch  me,  and  I  believe  they 
teach  me,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  lessons  are  wholesome  lessons 
We  have  had  here  to-day  this  procession  of  veterans,  aged  and 
feeble  many  of  them.  That  is  retrospective.  That  is  part  of  tho 
great  story  of  the  past,  written  in  glorious  letters  on  the  firmament 


24C  HARRISONS  SPEECHES. 

that  is  spread  above  the  world.  Arid  in  these  sweet  children  who 
have  followed  we  read  the  future.  How  sweet  it  was  to  see  them 
bearing  in  their  infant  hands  these  same  banners  that  those  vet- 
erans carried  amid  the  shot  and  battle  and  dying  of  men  !  I  had 
occasion  at  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  inauguration  of  Wash- 
ington in  New  York,  being  impressed  by  the  great  display  of 
national  colors,  to  make  a  suggestion  that  the  flag  should  be  taken 
into  the  schoolhouses,  and  I  ani  glad  to  know  that  in  that  State 
there  is  daily  a  little  drill  of  the  children  that  pays  honor  to  the 
flag.  But,  my  friends,  the  Constitution  provides  that  I  shall 
annually  give  information  to  Congress  of  the  state  of  the  Union 
and  make  such  recommendations  as  I  may  think  wise,  and  it  has 
generally  been  understood,  I  think,  that  this  affirmative  provision 
contains  a  negative  and  implies  that  the  President  is  to  give  no 
one  except  Congress  any  information  as  to  the  state  of  the  Union, 
and  that  he  shall  especially  make  no  suggestions  that  can  be  m 
any  shape  misconstrued. 

I  confess  that  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure,  if  the  occasion 
were  proper,  to  give  you  some  information  as  to  the  state  of  the 
Union  as  I  see  it,  and  to  make  some  suggestions  as  to  what  I  think 
would  be  wise  as  affecting  the  state  of  the  Union.  But  I  would 
not  on  an  occasion  like  this,  when  I  am  greeted  here  by  friends, 
fellows-citizens  of  all  shades  of  thought  in  politics  and  in  the 
Church,  say  a  word  that  could  mar  the  harmony  of  this  great  occa- 
sion. I  trust  we  are  all  met  here  together  to-day  as  loyal-loving 
American  citizens,  and  that  over  all  our  divisions  and  differences 
there  is  this  great  arch  of  love  and  loyalty  binding  us  together. 

And  now  you  will  excuse  me  from  further  speech  when  I  have 
said  again  that  I  am  profoundly  grateful  to  the  people  of  Galesburg 
and  this  vicinity,  and  to  these,  my  comrades  in  arms,  who  have 
so  warmly  opened  their  arms  to  welcome  me  to-day.  [Cheers.] 

Reunion  First  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Twentieth  Army  Corps. 

In  the  afternoon  General  Harrison  attended  the  reunion 
of  the  First  Brigade  Association,  of  wliich  he  is  President. 
This  brigade  was  the  General's  command  in  the  late  war, 
and  comprised  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Regiment,  Seventy- 
ninth  Ohio,  One  Hundred  and  Second,  One  Hundred 
and  Fifth,  and  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  Illinois. 
Many  veterans  were  present  from  these  regiments.  Among 
the  prominent  participants  were :  Generals  Daniel  Dust-in 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  247 

and  E.  F.  Button,  Sycamore,  111. ;  Gen.  F.  C.  Smith,  Gales- 
burg;  Gen.  A.  W.  Doane,  Wilmington,  Ohio;  General 
Miles,  Col.  H.  C.  Corbin,  H.  H.  Carr,  N.  E.  Gray,  Dr.  P. 
L.  McKinnie,  and  Colonel  Sexton,  Chicago ;  H.  H.  Mc- 
Dowell, Pontiac-;  Capt.  Edward  L.  Patterson,  Cleveland ; 
Capt.  F.  E.  Scott,  Brokenbow,  Neb. ;  Capt.  J.  T.  Merritt, 
Aledo;  Major  M.  G.  McLain,  Indianapolis;  Capt.  J.  E. 
Huston,  Clearfield,  Iowa ;  James  M.  Ayers,  R.  M.  Smock, 
Colonel  Mannon,  Major  Jack  Burst,  Wm.  Eddleman,  C.  I). 
Braidemeyer,  Capt.  T.  U.  Scott,  Capt.  T.  S.  Rogers,  C.  P. 
Curtis,  Captain  Bodkins,  and  others.  Congressman  Thos. 
J.  Henderson  and  many  of  the  above-mentioned  officers 
made  brief  speeches  during  the  reunion.  General  Dust-in 
occupied  the  chair  pending  the  election  of  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year.  General  Harrison's  re-election  as  President 
of  the  Association  was  carried  amid  cheers,  and  as  he 
appeared  to  assume  the  presiding  chair  the  veterans  gave 
him  a  rousing  reception. 

The  President  then  addressed  the  brigade  as  follows : 

Comrades — The  object  of  my  visit  to  Galesburg  was  this  meeting 
which  we  are  to  have  now.  I  should  not,  I  think,  have  been  per- 
suaded to  make  this  trip  except  for  the  pleasure  which  I  expected 
to  find  in  meeting  the  men  of  the  old  brigade,  from  most  of  whom 
I  have  "been  separated  since  the  muster-out  day.  We  have  had  a 
great  demonstration,  one  very  full  of  interest,  on  the  streets  and 
in  the  park,  but  I  think  we  are  drawn  a  little  closer  in  this  meet- 
ing and  understand  each  other  a  little  better  than  in  the  larger 
assemblages  of  which  we  have  made  a  part.  It  is  very  pleasant 
for  me  to  see  so  many  here.  I  cannot  recall  the  names  of  all  of 
you.  Time  has  wrought  its  changes  upon  the  faces  of  us  all. 
You  recognize  me  because  there  were  not  so  many  colonels  as  there 
were  soldiers — fortunately,  perhaps,  for  the  country.  [Laughter.] 
I  saw  you  as  individuals  in  the  brigade  line  when  it  was  drawn 
up  either  for  parade  or  battle.  It  is  quite  natural,  therefore,  and 
I  trust  it  will  not  be  held  against  me,  that  you  should  have  a  better 
recollection  of  my  features  than  I  can  possibly  have  of  yours. 
And  yet  some  of  you  I  recall  and  all  of  you  I  love.  [Applause.  ] 
When  you  were  associated  in  a  brigade  in  1862  we  were  all  some- 
what new  to  military  duties  and  life.  The  officers  as  well  as  the 


248  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

men  had  come  together  animated  by  a  common  purpose  from  every 
pursuit  in  life.  We  were  not  so  early  in  the  field  as  some  of  our 
comrades.  We  yield  them  the  honor  of  longer  service,  but  I  think 
we  may  claim  for  ourselves  that  when  our  hands  were  lifted  to 
take  the  enlistment  oath  there  was  no  inducement  for  any  man  to 
go  into  the  army  under  any  expectation  that  he  was  entering  on  a 
holiday.  In  the  early  days  of  the  war  men  thought  or  hoped  it 
would  be  brief.  They  did  not  measure  its  extent  or  duration. 
They  did  not  at  all  rightly  estimate  the  awful  sacrifices  that  were 
to  be  made  before  peace  with  honor  was  assured. 

I  well  remember  an  incident  of  the  early  days  of  volunteering  at 
Indianapolis,  when  the  first  companies  in  response  to  the  first  call 
of  President  Lincoln  came  hurrying  to  the  capital  Among  the 
first  to  arrive  was  one  from  Lafayette,  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  Chris.  Miller.  They  came  in  tumultuously  and  enthusiastic 
for  the  fight.  These  companies  were  organized  into  regiments, 
which  one  by  one  were  sent  into  West  Virginia  or  other  fields  of  ser- 
vice. It  happened  that  the  regiment  to  which  my  friend  Miller  was 
assigned  was  the  last  to  leave  the  State.  I  met  him  one  day  on 
the  street,  and  a  more  mad  and  despondent  soldier  I  never  saw. 
He  was  not  absolutely  choice  in  the  use  of  his  language — all  soldiers 
were  not.  I  think  the  First  Brigade  was  an  exception.  [Laughter.] 
He  was  swearing  like  a  pirate  over  the  disgrace  that  had  befallen 
him  and  his  associates,  growing  out  of  the  fact  that  he  was  abso- 
lutely certain  that  the  war  would  be  over  before  they  got  into  the 
field,  and  left  in  camp  a  stranded  regiment,  having  no  part  in 
putting  down  the  rebellion. 

Well,  his  day  came  presently,  and  he  was  ordered  to  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  among  the  first  of  those  who,  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy 
at  Rich  Mountain,  received  a  bullet  through  his  body  was  Capt. 
Chris.  Miller.  When  these  regiments  of  ours  were  enlisted  we 
were  not  apprehensive  that  the  war  would  be  over  before  we  had 
an  adequate  share  of  it.  We  were  pretty  certain  we  would  all 
have  enough  before  we  were  through.  The  clouds  were  dark  in 
those  days  of  '62.  McClellan  was  shut  up  in  the  Peninsula  ;  Buel) 
was  coming  back  from  Alabama ;  Kirby  Smith  was  entering 
through  Cumberland  Gap,  and  everything  seemed  to  be  discourag- 
ing. I  think  I  may  claim  for  these  men  of  Illinois,  and  these  men 
of  Indiana  and  of  Ohio — if  some  of  them  are  here  to  meet  with  us 
to-day — that  w^hen  they  enlisted  there  was  no  other  motive  than 
pure,  downright  patriotism,  and  there  was  no  misunderstanding  of 
the  serious  import  of  the  work  on  which  they  entered.  [Applause.] 

Those  early  days  in  which  we  were  being  transformed  from  ci- 


HARRISONS  SPEECHES.  249 

vilians  into  soldiers  were  full  of  trial  and  hardship.  The  officers 
were  sometimes  bumptious  and  unduly  severe— 1  am  entering  a 
plea  in  my  own  behalf  iio\v.  [Laughter.]  The  soldiers  had  not 
yet  got  to  understand  why  a  camp  guard  should  be  established, 
why  they  should  not  be  at  perfect  liberty  to  go  to  town  as  they 
were  when  on  the  farm  and  the  day's  work  was  over.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  an  army  was  composed  of  so  many  men,  but  we  had 
not  learned  at  that  time  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  all 
those  men  should  be  at  the  same  place  at  the  same  time,  and  that 
they  could  not  be  scattered  over  the  neighborhood.  There  were  a 
good  may  trials  of  that  sort  while  the  men  were  being  made  soldiers 
and  the  officers  were  learning  their  duties,  and  to  know  the  proper 
margin  between  the  due  liberty  of  the  individual  and  the  necessary 
restraint  of  discipline.  But  those  days  were  passed  soon,  and  they 
passed  the  sooner  when  the  men  went  into  active  duties.  Camp 
duties  were  always  irksome  and  troublesome,  but  when  they  were 
changed  for  the  active  duties  of  the  march  and  field  there  was  less 
need  of  restraint. 

I  always  noticed  there  was  no  great  need  of  a  camp  guard  after 
the  boys  had  marched  twenty-five  miles.  They  did  not  need  so 
much  watching  at  night.  Then  the  serious  time  came  when  sick- 
ness devastated  us  and  disease  swept  its  dread  swath,  and  that 
dreadful  progress  of  making  soldiers  was  passed  through  when  dis- 
eases which  should  have  characterized  childhood  prostrated  and 
destroyed  men.  Then  there  came  out  of  all  this,  after  the  sifting 
out  of  those  who  were  weak  and  incapable,  of  those  who  could  not 
stand  this  acclimating  process,  that  body  of  tough,  strong  men, 
ready  for  the  march  and  fight,  that  made  up  the  great  armies 
which  under  Grant  and  Sherman  and  Sheridan  carried  the  flag  to 
triumph. 

The  survivors  of  some  of  them  are  here  to-day,  and  whatever  else 
has  come  to  us  in  life,  whether  honor  or  disappointment,  I  do  not 
think  there  are  any  of  us — not  me,  I  am  sure — who  would  to-day 
exchange  the  satisfaction,  the  heart  comfort  we  have  in  having 
been  a  part  of  the  great  army  that  subdued  the  rebellion,  that 
saved  the  country,  the  Constitution,  and  the  flag.  [Applause.  ]  If 
I  were  asked  to  exchange  it  for  any  honor  that  has  come  to  me,  I 
would  lay  down  any  civil  office  rather  than  surrender  the  satisfac- 
tion I  have  in  having  been  an  humble  partaker  with  you  in  that 
great  war.  [Applause.]  Who  shall  measure  it?  Well,  generations 
hence,  when  this  country,  which  had  30,000,000,  now  64,000,000, 
has  become  100,000,000,  when  these  institutions  of  ours  grow  and 
develop  and  spread,  and  homes  in  which  happiness  and  comfort 


250  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

have  their  abiding- place,  then  we  may  begin  to  realize,  North 
and  South,  what  this  work  was.  We  but  imperfectly  see  it  now, 
yet  we  have  seen  enough  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  to  fill  our  souls 
full  of  a  quiet  enthusiasm.  [Applause.] 

Here  we  are  pursuing  our  different  works  in  life  to-day  just  as 
when  we  stood  on  picket  or  on  guard,  just  as  in  the  front  rank  of 
battle  facing  the  foe — trying  to  do  our  part  for  the  country.  I 
hope  there  is  not  a  soldier  here  in  whom  the  love  of  the  flag  has 
died  out.  I  believe  there  is  not  one  in  whose  heart  it  is  not  a 
growing  passion.  I  think  a  great  deal  of  the  interest  of  the  flag 
we  see  among  the  children  is  because  you  have  taught  them  what 
the  flag  means.  No  one  knows  how  beautiful  it  is  when  we  see  it 
displayed  here  on  this  quiet  October  day,  amid  these  quiet  autum- 
nal scenes,  who  has  not  seen  it  when  there  was  no  other  beautiful 
thing  to  look  upon.  [Applause.]  And  in  those  long,  tiresome 
marches,  in  those  hours  of  smoke  and  battle  and  darkness,  what 
was  there  that  was  beautiful  except  the  starry  banner  that  floated 
over  us?  [Applause.] 

Our  country  has  grown  and  developed  and  increased  in  riches 
until  it  is  to-day  marvellous  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
sweeping  from  sea  to  sea,  embracing  almost  every  climate,  touch- 
ing the  tropics  and  the  arctic,  covering  every  form  of  product  of 
the  soil,  developing  in  skill  in  the  mechanical  arts,  developing,  I 
trust  and  believe,  not  only  in  these  material  things  which  are 
great,  but  not  the  greatest,  but  developing  also  in  those  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart,  in  morality,  in  the  love  of  order,  in  sobrietjr, 
in  respect  for  the  law,  in  a  God-fearing  disposition  among  the 
people,  in  love  for  our  country,  in  all  these  high  and  spiritual 
things.  I  believe  the  soldiers  in  their  places  have  made  a  large 
contribution  to  all  these  things. 

The  assembling  of  our  great  army  was  hardly  so  marvellous  as 
its  disbanding.  In  the  olden  time  it  was  expected  that  a  soldier 
would  be  a  brawler  when  the  campaign  was  over.  He  was  too 
often  a  disturber.  Those  habits  of  violence  which  he  had  learned 
in  the  field  followed  him  to  his  home.  But  how  different  it  was 
in  this  war  of  ours.  The  army  sprang  into  life  as  if  by  magic,  on 
the  call  of  the  martyred  President — Illinois'  greatest  gift,  as  I  have 
said,  to  the  Nation.  They  fought  through  the  war,  and  they  came 
out  of  it  without  demoralization.  They  returned  to  the  very  pur- 
suits from  which  they  had  come.  It  seemed  to  one  that  it  was  like 
the  wrapping  of  snow  which  nature  sometimes  puts  over  the  earth 
in  the  winter  season  to  protect  and  keep  warm  the  vegetation 
which  is  hidden  under  it,  and  which  under  the  warm  days  of 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  251 

spring  melts  and  disappears,  and  settles  into  the  earth  to  clothe  it 
with  verdure  and  beauty  and  harvest.      [Great  cheering.] 

Alumni  Hall,  Knox  College. 

After  the  public  reception  was  concluded  the  President 
and  party  participated  in  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
the  Alumni  Hall  on  the  campus  of  Knox  College.  Dr. 
Newton  Batemaii,  president  of  the  college,  conducted  the 
exercises.  Prof.  Milton  L.  Comstock  read  a  brief  history 
of  Knox  College,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  Dr.  Adams 
introduced  President  Harrison,  who  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow-citizens — Speaking  this  morning  in  the  open  air, 
which  since  my  official  isolation  from,  campaigning  has  made  my 
voice  unaccustomed  to  it,  will  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  speak 
further  at  this  time.  I  do  not  deem  this  ceremony  at  all  out  of 
accord  with  the  patriotic  impulses  which  have  stirred  our  hearts 
to-day.  Education  was  early  in  the  thought  of  the  framers  of  our 
Constitution  as  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  only  guarantee  of  their  per- 
petuation. Washington,  as  well  as  the  founders  of  the  venerable 
and  useful  institution,  appreciated  and  expressed  his  interest  in 
the  establishment  of  institutions  of  learning.  How  shall  one  be  a 
safe  citizen  when  citizens  are  rulers  who  are  not  intelligent?  How 
shall  he  understand  those  great  questions  which  his  suffrage  must 
adjudge  without  thorough  intellectual  culture  in  his  youth  ?  We  are 
here,  then,  to-day  engaged  in  a  patriotic  work  as  we  lay  this 
corner-stone  of  an  institution  that  has  had  a  great  career  of  use- 
fulness in  the  past  and  is  now  entering  upon  a  field  of  enlarged 
usefulness.  We  lay  this  corner-stone  and  rededicate  this  institu- 
tion to  truth,  purity,  loyalty,  and  a  love  of  God. 

Phi  Delta  Tlieta  Banquet. 

In  the  evening  the  President  attended  a  banquet  tendered 
him  by  Lombard  and  Knox  chapters  of  Phi  Delta  Theta, 
of  which  college  fraternity  General  Harrison  was  a  mem- 
ber in  his  student  days.  At  the  President's  table  sat 
Toastmaster  Lester  L.  Silliman,  of  Lombard  Chapter,  with 
General  Miles,  Generals  Grosvenor,  Morgan,  and  Post, 
Mayor  Stevens,  Dr.  Ayres,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Hood.  Brother 
Geo.  W.  Prince  delivered  the  welcoming  address  on  behalf 


252  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  the  local  chapters,  to  which  the  distinguished  Phi  broth- 
er, President  Harrison,  arising  amid  great  applause,  re- 
sponded. After  a  few  pleasant  remarks  regarding  his 
recollections  of  college  life  and  his  pleasure  at  meeting 
again  with  the  members  of  the  Phi  Delta  Theta,  he  said : 

My  college  associations  were  broken  early  in  life,  partly  by  ne- 
cessity and  partly  by  choice  ;  by  necessity  so  far  as  the  compulsion 
to  work  for  a  living  was  upon  me,  and  by  choice  in  that  I  added  to 
my  responsibility  at  an  early  date,  so  that  it  has  not  been  my 
pleasure  often  to  meet  with  or  sit  about  the  banquet  board  with 
members  of  this  society.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  meet  with  you 
to-night.  I  feel  the  greatest  sympathy  with  these  young  men  who 
are  now  disciplining  their  minds  for  the  work  of  life.  I  would  not 
have  them  make  these  days  too  serious,  and  yet  they  are  very  full 
of  portent  and  promise.  It  is  not  inconsistent,  I  think,  writh  the 
joyfulness  and  gladness  which  pertains  to  youth  that  they  shall  have 
some  sense  of  the  value  of  these  golden  days.  They  are  days  that 
are  to  affect  the  wrhole  future.  If  I  were  to  select  a  watchword 
that  I  would  have  every  young  man  write  above  his  door  and  on 
his  heart,  it  would  be  that  good  word  "Fidelity  "  I  know  of  no 
better.  The  man  who  meets  every  obligation  to  the  family,  to 
society,  to  the  State,  to  his  country,  and  his  God,  to  the  very  best 
measure  of  his  strength  and  ability,  cannot  fail  of  that  assurance 
and  quietness  that  comes  of  a  good  conscience,  and  w^ill  seldom  fail 
of  the  approval  of  his  fellow-men,  and  will  never  fail  of  the  reward 
which  is  promised  to  faithfulness.  Unfaithfulness  and  lack  of 
fidelity  to  duty,  to  work,  and  to  obligation  is  the  open  door  to  all 
that  is  disgraceful  and  degrading. 

I  want  to  thank  you  again,  gentlemen,  for  this  pleasant  greeting, 
and  to  ask  you,  after  the  rather  exhaustive  duties  of  this  day,  to 
excuse  me  from  further  address  and  accept  the  best  wishes  of  a 
brother  in  the  Phi  Delta  Theta  organization.  [Cheers.  ] 

TJie  Brigade  Banquet. 

Later  in  the  evening  the  President  and  party  attended  a 
banquet  given  by  the  citizens  in  honor  of  the  First  Brigade. 
It  was  a  brilliant  affair,  conducted  by  the  ladies  of  the 
city,  active  among  whom  were  Mrs.  Geo.  Lescher,  Miss 
Tillie  Weeks,  Miss  Maude  Stewart,  Miss  Winnie  Hoover, 
and  Mrs.  Whiffen.  Mrs.  George  Gale  had  charge  of  tho 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  253 

table  of  honor,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Otto  M.  Smith  and  Miss 
Louise  Try  on.  Gen.  Philip  S.  Post  was  Master  of  Cere- 
monies and  presented  General  Harrison. 

The  President  prologued  his  parting  words  with  an  in- 
cident of  a  visit  he  made  to  a  small  town  down  the  Poto- 
mac. Although  he  was  introduced  as  President  all  over 
the  town,  no  special  attention  was  paid  to  him,  and  when 
the  local  paper  came  out  with  a  column  and  a  half  report 
of  the  visit  of  the  Chief  Executive,  the  good  people  of  the 
town  were  astonished,  but  explained  their  lack  of  attention 
by  saying  they  thought  Mr.  Harrison  was  president  of  some 
fishing  club.  Aside  from  jokes,  said  the  President : 

One  serious  word  in  leaving.  This  day  in  Galesburg  I  shall  long 
remember.  The  enthusiasm  and  the  cordiality  of  the  citizens,  the 
delicacy  and  kindness  of  their  attention,  have  impressed  me  deeply. 
I  shall  ever  gratefully  recollect  Galesburg  as  a  spot  of  especial 
interest,  as  the  place  of  the  meeting  of  the  old  brigade.  Comrades, 
I  hope  to  meet  you  again  when  my  time  is  more  my  own,  and  on 
several  occasions  like  this  to  speak  to  you  more  familiarly,  and  to 
recall  this  time.  I  have  tried  not  to  be  stinted  in  my  intercourse 
with  you,  for  I  have  wanted  you  to  feel  me  warm  and  sincere.  I 
have  expressed  myself,  but  not  as  freely  as  I  would  if  by  ourselves, 
or  if  I  were  but  a  private  citizen  or  member  of  the  brigade.  But 
I  would  say  to  you  and  all  your  families,  to  the  wives  that  sit 
here,  to  the  wives  and  children  that  are  at  home,  to  those  who 
have  gone  out  from  your  roof -tree  to  prepare  homes,  to  your  grand- 
children— and  I  hope  all  of  you  have  them — to  one  and  all,  I 
extend  the  hearty  sympathy  and  best  wishes  of  the  "  old-timer" 
you  served  so  faithfully. 


OTTUMWA,  IOWA,  OCTOBER  9. 

THE  President's  party  left  Galesburg  the  night  of  the 
8th,  arriving  at  Burlington  at  10  o'clock,  where  about 
8,000  people  greeted  them.  The  President  was  escorted  to 
the  Commercial  Club  rooms,  where  Mayor  Duncan,  on 
behalf  of  the  city  of  Burlington,  and  P.  M.  Crapo,  president 
of  the  club,  made  addresses  of  welcome.  A  reception  of 


254  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

one  hour's  duration  followed,  during  which  President 
Harrison  shook  hands  with  3,000  callers.  Ottumwa  was 
reached  at  8  o'clock  Thursday  morning.  A  committee  of 
citizens,  headed  by  Hon.  J.  G.  Hutchison,  met  the  Presi- 
dent at  Galesburg.  On  arrival  the  President  and  his 
brother,  John  Scott  Harrison,  were  immediately  driven  to 
the  residence  of  their  sister,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Devin,  where  they 
passed  the  morning. 

At  the  Coal  Palace  the  President  and  Secretary  Tracy 
were  met  by  Gov.  Horace  Boies  and  his  staff,  headed  by 
Adjt.-Gen  Greene;  also  Senator  Wm.  B.  Allison,  Sena- 
tor James  F.  Wilson,  ex-Senator  Harlan,  Hon.  John  F. 
Lacey,  and  the  f oh1  owing  Committee  of  Reception,  repre- 
senting the  city  of  Ottumwa :  T.  J.  Devin,  W.  T.  Harper,  J. 
E.  Hawkins,  W.  B.  Smith,  Henry  Phillips,  Sam'l  A.  Fla- 
ger,  J.  C.  Manchester,  A.  W.Johnson,  W.  T.  Fenton,  J.  G. 
Meek,  Calvin  Manning,  Geo.  Withall,  J.  W.  Garner,  J.  J. 
Smith,  W.  W.  Epps,  H.  B.  Hendershott,  J.  H.  Merrill,  W. 
B.  Bonnifield,  A.  H.  Hamilton,  C.  F.  Blake,  John  C. 
Fisher,  Hon.  John  N".  Irwin,  J.  T.  Hackworth,  W.  C. 
Wyman,  John  C.  Jordan,  A.  G.  Harrow,  Allen  Johnston, 
T.  D.  Foster,  J.  W.  Edgerly,  A.  W.  Lee,  William  Daggett, 
G.  H.  Sheffer,  W.  D.  Elliott,  Charles  Bachman,  H.  A. 
Zangs,  R.  H.  Moore,  Capt.  S.  B.  Evans,  Capt.  S.  H.  Harper, 
H.  W.  Merrill,  J.  R.  Burgess,  J.  B.  Mowrey,  A.  C.  Leigh- 
ton,  W.  S.  Cripps,  R.  L.  Tilton,  Dr.  L.  J.  Baker,  D.  A. 
Emery,  Samuel  Mahon,  W.  S.  Coen,  O.  C.  Graves,  Thomas 
Swords,  and  John  F.  Henry.  Other  cities  in  Iowa  were 
represented  on  the  Reception  Committee  by  the  following 
prominent  citizens :  Hon.  John  Craig,  of  Keokuk ;  Judge 
Traverse  and  Senator  Taylor,  of  Bloomfield ;  Gen.  W.  W. 
Wright  and  Gen.  F.  M.  Drake,  Centerville;  Gen.  B.  M.Mc- 
Fall,  Oskaloosa;  T.  B.  Perry  and  J.  H.  Drake,  Albia;  Geo. 
D.  Woodin  and  Hon.  F.  E.  White,  Sigourney;  Hon.  Chas. 
D.  Leggett  and  Chas.  D.  Fallen,  Fairfield ;  Hon.  Edwin 
Manning  and  Capt.  W.  A.  Duckworth,  Keosauqua ;  F.  R. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  255 

Crocker  and  E.  A.  Temple,  Chariton ;  O.  P.  Wright,  Knox- 
ville;  E.  B.  Woodruff,  Marion  Co. ;  Col.  Al.  Swalm,  Oska- 
loosa;  Hon.  W.  P.  Smith,  Hon.  Josiah  Given,  Hon.  Fred 
Lehman,  G.  W.  Wright,  Des  Moines ;  Hon.  John  H.  Gear, 
Hon.  John  J.  Seely,  Burlington;  Hon.  F.  C.  Hormel,  Capt. 
M.  P.  Mills,  Cedar  Rapids;  Hon.  Geo.  H.  Spahr,  Hon.  W. 
I.  Babb,  Mt.  Pleasant;  Hon.  J.  B.  Grinnell,  of  Grinnell;  Dr. 
Eiigle,  Newton ;  Frank  Letts  and  J.  S.  McFarland,  Mar- 
shalltown;  Hon.  J.  B.  Harsh  and  M.  A.  Robb,  Crestoii; 
ex-Governor  Kirkwood  and  Ezekiel  Clark,  Iowa  City. 

The  President  and  Governor  Boies  reviewed  the  parade 
from  a  stand  in  the  park.  The  column  was  led  by  the 
veterans  of  the  famous  Third  Iowa  Cavalry.  Three  thou- 
sand school  children  participated  in  the  demonstration, 
which  was  witnessed  by  fully  40, 000  spectators.  The  public 
reception  took  place  in  the  afternoon  at  the  Coal  Palace ; 
the  great  building  was  overflowing.  Hon.  P.  G.  Ballin- 
gall,  President  of  the  Coal  Palace  Exposition,  introduced 
Governor  Boies,  who  welcomed  the  President  in  behalf  of 
the  people  of  Iowa. 

President  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

Governor  Boies  and  Fellow -citizens — I  accept  in  the  same  cordial 
and  friendly  spirit  in  which  they  have  been  offered  these  words  of 
welcome  spoken  on  behalf  of  the  good  people  of  the  great  State  of 
Iowa.  It  gives  me  pleasure  in  this  hasty  journey  to  pause  for  a 
little  time  in  the  city  of  Ottumwa,  I  have  had  especial  pleasure 
in  looking  upon  this  structure  and  the  exhibits  which  it  contains. 
It  is  itself  a  proof  of  the  enterprise,  skill,  and  artistic  taste  of  the 
people  of  this  city  of  which  they  may  justly  be  very  proud.  I  look 
about  it  and  see  that  its  adornment  has  been  wrought  with  ma- 
terials that  are  familiar  and  common,  and  that  these  have  as- 
sumed, under  the  deft  fingers  and  artistic  thoughts  of  your  people, 
shapes  of  beauty  that  are  marvellously  attractive.  If  I  should 
attempt  to  interpret  the  lesson  of  this  structure,  I  should  say  it 
was  an  illustration  of  how  much  that  is  artistic  and  graceful  is 
to  be  found  in  the  common  things  of  life  ;  and  if  I  should  make 
an  application  of  the  lesson,  it  would  be  to  suggest  that  we  might 
profitably  carry  into  all  our  homes  and  into  all  neighborly  inter- 
course the  same  transforming  spirit.  The  common  things  of  this 


256  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

life,  touched  by  a  loving  spirit,  may  be  made  to  glow  and  glisten. 
The  common  intercourse  of  life,  touched  by  friendliness  and  love, 
may  be  made  to  fill  every  home  and  neighborhood  with  a  bright- 
ness that  jewels  cannot  shed.  And  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  in 
our  American  home-life  we  have  reached  this  ideal  in  a  degree 
unexcelled  elsewhere. 

I  believe  that  in  the  American  home,  whether  in  the  city  or  on 
the  farm,  the  American  father  and  the  American  mother,  in  their 
relations  to  the  children,  are  kinder,  more  helpful,  and  benignant 
than  any  others.  [Cries  of  "Good!  Good!"  and  cheers.]  In  these 
homes  is  the  strength  of  our  institutions.  Let  these  be  corrupted 
and  the  Government  itself  has  lost  the  stone  of  strength  upon  which 
it  securely  rests. 

(Here,  by  some  accident  of  arrangement,  the  water  of 
an  artificial  waterfall  immediately  behind  the  President 
was  turned  on,  and  the  rush  and  roar  of  the  water  drowned 
his  voice  almost  completely.) 

I  have  contended  with  a  brass  band  while  attempting  to  address 
a  popular  audience,  but  I  have  never  before  been  asked  to  speak  in 
the  rush  and  roar  of  Niagara.  [Laughter  and  cheers.  ]  I  think  if 
I  were  to  leave  it  to  this  audience  whether  they  would  rather  see 
that  beautiful  display  and  hear  the  rippling  of  these  waters  [point- 
ing] than  to  hear  me,  they  would  vote  for  the  waterfall.  [Cries 
of  "No,  no!"  and  "Shut  off  the  water!"] 

(At  this  point  the  management  succeeded  in  finally  turn- 
ing off  the  water  so  that  the  deafening  noise  ceased.) 

I  had  supposed  that  there  were  limitations  upon  the  freedom  of 
this  meeting  this  afternoon,  both  as  to  the  Governor  and  myself, 
ar.d  that  no  political  suggestion  of  any  sort  was  to  be  introduced 
into  this  friendly  concourse  of  American  citizens  ;  and  I  think  both 
of  us  have  good  cause  for  grievances  against  the  prohibitionists  for 
interrupting  us  with  this  argument  for  cold  water.  [Great  laugh- 
ter and  applause.  ] 

It  is  quite  difficult,  called  upon  as  I  am  every  day,  and  sometimes 
three  or  four  times  a  day,  to  make  short  addresses  with  the  limita- 
tions that  are  upon  me  as  to  the  subjects  upon  which  I  may  speak, 
to  know  what  to  say  when  I  meet  my  fellow-citizens.  I  was  glad 
to  hear  the  Governor  say  that  Iowa  is  prosperous.  We  have  here  a 
witness  that  it  is  so.  It  offers  also,  I  think,  a  solution  of  the  origin 
of  that  prosperity,  and  suggests  how  it  may  be  increased  and 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  257 

developed.  We  have  in  this  structure  a  display  of  all  the  products 
of  the  farm,  and  side  by  side  with  it  a  display  of  the  mechanic 
arts.  I  think  in  this  combination,  in  this  diversity  of  interest 
and  pursuit,  in  this  mutual  and  helpful  relation  between  the  toilers 
of  the  soil  and  the  workers  in  our  shops,  each  contributing  to  the 
commonwealth  and  each  giving  to  the  other  that  which  he  needs, 
we  have  that  which  has  brought  about  the  prosperity  you  now 
enjoy,  and  which  is  to  increase*  under  the  labors  of  your  children 
to  a  degree  that  we  have  not  realized.  The  progress  in  the  me- 
chanical arts  that  men  not  older  than  I  have  witnessed,  the  appli- 
cation of  new  agencies  to  the  use  of  men  within  the  years  of  my 
own  notice  and  recollection,  read  like  a  fairy  tale.  Let  us  not 
think  that  we  have  reached  the  limits  of  this  development.  There 
are  yet  uses  of  the  agencies  already  known  to  be  developed  and 
applied.  There  are  yet  agencies  perhaps  in  the  great  storehouse  of 
nature  that  have  not  been  harnessed  for  the  use  of  man.  The  tele- 
graph, the  telephone,  and  the  phonograph  have  all  come  within 
the  memory  of  many  who  stand  about  me  to-day.  The  application 
of  steam  to  ocean  travel  is  within  the  memory  of  many  here.  The 
development  of  our  railroad  system  has  all  come  within  your 
memory  and  mine.  The  railroad  was  but  a  feeble  agency  in  com- 
merce when  my  early  recollection  begins  ;  and  now  this  great  State 
is  covered  with  railroads  like  a  network.  Every  farm  is  within 
easy  reach  of  a  shipping  station,  and  every  man  can  speak  to  his 
neighbor  any  day  of  the  week,  though  that  neighbor  live  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  globe.  Out  of  all  this  what  is  yet  to  come? 
Who  can  tell?  You  are  favored  here  in  having  not  only  a  surface 
soil  that  yields  richly  to  the  labor  of  the  farmer,  but  in  also  having 
hidden  beneath  that  surface  rich  mines  of  coal  which  are  to  be 
converted  into  power  to  propel  the  mills  that  will  supply  the  wants 
of  your  people. 

Now,  my  friends,  thanking  you  for  the  kindness  with  which  you 
have  listened  to  me,  expressing  again  my  appreciation  of  the  taste 
and  beauty  of  this  great  structure  in  which  we  stand,  and  wishing 
for  Iowa  and  all  its  citizens  the  largest  increase  of  prosperity  in 
material  wealth,  the  most  secure  social  order  in  all  their  commu- 
nities, and  the  crowning  blessing  of  home  happiness,  I  bid  you 
good-by.  [Prolonged  cheering.] 
17 


258  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


ST.  JOSEPH,  MISSOURI,  OCTOBER  10. 

THE  first  reception  in  the  State  of  Missouri  took  place  at 
St.  Joseph  at  6 :30  the  morning  of  October  10.  Many  thou- 
sands greeted  the  President  at  the  Union  Depot.  Conspic- 
uous in  the  assemblage  were  the  veterans  of  Ouster  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  who  escorted  the  party  to  the  neighboring  hotel. 
The  Committee  of  Reception  consisted  of  Col.  A.  0.  Dawes, 
Chairman;  Mayor  Wm.  Shepard,  Hon.  John  L.  Bittinger, 
Capt  Chas.  F.  Ernst,  Capt.  F.  M.  Posegate,  Col.  N.  P.  Og- 
den,  August  Nunning,  Wm.  M.  Wyeth,  Major  T.  J.  Chew, 
Hon.  Geo.  J.  Englehart,  Hon.  O.  M.  Spencer,  Dr.  J.  D. 
Smith,  James  McCord,  ex-Gov.  Silas  Woodson,  John  M. 
Frazier,  Frank  M.  Atkinson,  Rev.  H.  L.  Foote,  and  Major 
Joseph  Hansen. 

Colonel  Dawes  made  a  brief  welcoming  address  and 
presented  the  President,  who  spoke  as  follows : 

l\ly  Fellow-citizens — If  you  are  glad  to  see  me  at  this  hour  in  the 
morning,  if  you  are  so  kind  and  demonstrative  before  breakfast, 
how  great  would  have  been  your  welcome  if  I  had  come  a  little 
later  in  the  day?  [Applause.] 

I  beg  to  thank  you,  who  at  an  inconvenient  and  early  hour, 
have  turned  out  to  speak  these  words  of  welcome  to  us  as  we  pass 
through  your  beautiful  city.  Many  years  ago  I  read  of  St.  Joseph. 
I  know  something  of  its  history,  when,  instead  of  being  a  large 
city,  it  was  a  place  for  outfitting  those  slow  and  toilsome  trains 
that  bore  the  early  pioneers  toward  California  and  the  far  West. 
Those  days  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  Those  means  of  communica- 
tion were  slow,  but  they  bore  men  and  women,  full  of  courage  and 
patriotism,  to  do  for  us  on  the  Pacific  and  in  the  great  West  the 
work  of  peaceful  conquest  that  has  added  greatly  to  the  glory  and 
prosperity  of  our  country.  And  yet  we  congratulate  ourselves  that 
the  swifter  means  of  communication  have  taken  the  place  of  the 
old ;  we  congratulate  ourselves  that  these  conveniences,  both  of 
business  and  social  life,  have  come  to  crown  our  day.  And  yet 
in  the  midst  of  them,  enjoying  the  luxuries  which  modern  civ- 
ilization brings  to  our  doors,  let  us  not  lose  from  our  house- 
holds those  plain  and  sturdy  virtues  which  are  essential  to  true 
American  citizenship ;  let  us  remember  always  that  above  all 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  250 

surroundings,  above  all  that  is  external,  there  is  to  be  prized 
those  solid  and  essential  virtues  that  make  home  happy  and  that 
make  our  country  great,  and  that  enable  us  in  every  time  of  trial 
and  necessity  to  call  out  from  among  the  people  some  who  are 
fit  to  lead  our  armies  or  to  meet  every  emergency  in  the  history 
of  the  State.  We  are  here  as  American  citizens,  not  as  partisans  ; 
\ve  are  here  as  comrades  of  the  late  war,  or,  if  there  are  here  those 
who  under  the  other  banner  fought  for  what  seemed  to  them  to  be 
right,  we  are  here  to  say  one  and  all  that  God  knew  what  was  best 
for  this  country  when  he  cast  the  issue  in  favor  of  the  Uniofc  and 
the  Constitution.  [Applause  and  cheers.  ] 

Now,  again  united  under  its  ample  guarantee  of  personal  liberty 
and  public  security,  united  again  under  one  flag,  we  have  started 
forward,  if"  we  are  true  to  our  obligations,  upon  a  career  of  pros- 
perity that  wrould  not  otherwise  have  been  possible.  Let  us  there- 
fore, in  all  kindliness  and  faithfulness,  in  devotion  to  the  right, 
as  God  shall  give  us  light  to  see  it,  go  forward  in  the  discharge  of 
our  duties,  setting  above  everything  else  the  flag  and  the  Constitu- 
tion on  which  all  our  rights  and  securities  are  based.  Now,  my 
comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  fellow-citizens- 
of  Missouri,  again  I  thank  you  and  bid  you  good-. by.  [Cheers.] 


ATCHISON,  KANSAS,  OCTOBER    10. 

ENTERING  Kansas  the  President  was  the  recipient  of  a 
unique  welcome  at  Atchison,  where  1,000  school  children 
and  several  thousand  citizens  greeted  him.  Little  Edna 
Elizabeth  Downs  was  the  orator  on  behalf  of  the  children, 
and  delivered  a  beautiful  address,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which  the  children  showered  the  President  with  flowers. 

The  Mayor  of  Atchison,  Hon.  B.  P.  Waggener,  and  the 
following  prominent  citizens  welcomed  the  Chief  Exec- 
utive :  Hon.  John  J.  Ingalls,  Hon.  Edward  K.  Blair,  Hon. 
Clem  Rohr,  Hon.  S.  0.  King,  Hon.  S.  H.  Kelsey,  Hon. 
John  C.  Tomlinson,  Hon.  A.  J.  Harwi,  Hon.  Henry  Elles- 
ton,  Hon.  S.  R.  Stevenson,  Hon.  C.  W.  Benning,  Judge 
Rob't  M.  Eaton,  ex-Gov.  Geo.  W.  Glick,  Hon.  H.  C.  Sol- 
omon, Judge  A.  G.  Otis,  Judge  David  Martin,  L.  C. 
Challiss,  E.  W.  Howe,  David  Auld,  B.  T.  Davis,  Chas. 


2GO  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

E.  Faulkner,  Major  W.  H.  Haskell,  Major  S.  R  Washer, 
Capt.  J.  K.  Fisher,  Capt.  David  Baker,  Capt.  John  Seaton, 
Stanton  Park,  T.  B.  Gerow,  and  H.  Claypark.  Chief- 
Justice  Albert  H.  Horton  made  the  welcoming  address 
and  introduced  President  Harrison,  who  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  stand  to-day  for  the  first  time  upon  the 
soil  of  Kansas.  I  am  glad  to  have  been  permitted  to  enter  it  by 
the  vestibule  of  this  attractive  city,  the  home  of  one  of  your 
most* brilliant  statesmen.  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying,  God  be 
thanked  that  freedom  won  its  early  battle  in  Kansas.  [Applause.  ] 
All  this  would  have  been  otherwise  impossible.  You  have  a  soil 
christened  with  the  blood  of  men  who  died  for  liberty,  and  you 
have  well  maintained  the  lessons  they  taught,  living  and  dying. 
It  was  appropriate  that  the  survivors  of  the  late  war,  men  who 
came  home  crowned  with  the  consummating  victory  of  liberty, 
should  make  the  State  of  Kansas  pre-eminently  the  soldier  State  of 
the  Union.  Now,  after  telling  you  that  I  am  very  grateful  for 
your  friendly  greeting  this  morning,  you  will,  I  am  sure,  excuse 
me,  in  this  tumult,  from  attempting  further  speech.  May  every 
good  attend  you  in  your  homes ;  may  the  career  of  this  great  State 
be  one  of  unceasing  prosperity  in  things  material,  and  may  your 
citizenship  never  forget  that  the  spiritual  things  that  take  hold  of 
liberty  and  human  rights  are  higher  and  better  than  all  material 
things.  [Prolonged  cheering.]  Allow  me  now  to  present  to  you 
the  only  member  of  my  Cabinet  who  accompanied  me,  General 
Tracy,  of  New  York,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


TOPEKA,  KANSAS,  OCTOBER    10. 

THE  President's  reception  at  Topeka  on  Friday,  October 
10,  was  a  remarkable  ovation;  over  50,000  people  from 
every  county  in  the  State  greeted  him.  The  famous 
Seventh  U.  S.  Cavalry,  Gen.  J.  W.  Forsythe  commanding, 
acted  as  the  guard  of  honor.  The  President  was  welcomed 
by  Gov.  Lyman  U.  Humphrey,  Senator  John  J.  Ingalls, 
Chief -Justice  Albert  H.  Horton,  Mayor  Eobert  L.  Cofran, 
and  the  following  distinguished  committee:  Ex-Gov. 
Thomas  A.  Osborn,  ex-Gov.  Geo.  T.  Anthony,  Capt.  Geo. 
R  Peck,  Col.  James  Burgess,  Hon.  S.  B.  Bradford,  Judge 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  201 

N.  C.  McFarland,  Judge  John  Martin,  A.  J.  Arnold,  John 
Guthrie,  Wm.  P.  Douthitt,  John  Mileham,  William  Sims, 
Cyrus  K.  Holliday,  Perry  G.  Noel,  S.  T.  Howe,  Bernard 
Kelly,  J.  Lee  Knight,  N.  D.  McGinley,  Wm.  H.  Rossing- 
ton,  Rev.  Dr.  F.  S.  McCabe,  Geo.  W.  Reed,  Elihu  Holcomb, 
Lark  Odin,  L.  J.  Webb,  Milo  B.  Ward,  J.  K.  Hudson,  F. 
P.  McLennan,  H.  O.  Garvey,  Frank  Root,  John  M.  Bloss, 
John  F.  Gwinn,  A.  M.  Fuller,  J.  W.  F.  Hughes,  John  R. 
Peckham,  James  L.  King,  Henry  Bennett,  Geo.  H.  Evans, 
M.  C.  Holman,  John  C.  Gordon,  H.  P.  Throop,  Joseph  R. 
Hankland,  T.  W.  Durham,  Judge  C.  G.  Foster,  A.  K. 
Rodgers,  A.  B.  Jetmore,  and  Thomas  F.  Oenes. 

The  parade  was  an  imposing  affair.  Thirty  thousand 
veterans  were  in  line.  The  Indiana  contingent  numbered 
over  1,000,  and  as  they  passed  the  reviewing  carriage,  led 
by  Major  George  Noble,  cheer  after  cheer  was  given  in 
honor  of  the  distinguished  Hoosier.  Nearly  0,000  school 
children  participated  in  the  parade.  In  the  afternoon  the 
President  visited  the  reunion  grounds  with  Commander 
Ira  F.  Collins  and  other  officers  of  the  Kansas  Department, 
G.  A.  R.  Governor  Humphrey  delivered  the  welcoming 
address. 

The  President  responded  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  am  strongly  tempted  to  omit  even  an  at- 
tempt to  speak  to  you  to-day ;  I  think  it  would  be  better  that  I 
should  go  home  and  write  you  an  open  letter.  [Great  laughter 
and  cheering.]  I  have  been  most  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
incidents  which  have  attended  this  tremendous  and,  I  am  told, 
unprecedented  gathering  of  the  soldiers  and  citizens  of  the  great 
State  of  Kansas.  No  one  can  interpret  in  speech  the  lessons  of  this 
occasion.  No  power  of  description  is  adequate  to  convey  to  those 
who  have  not  looked  upon  it  or  into  the  spirit  and  power  of  this 
meeting.  This  assembly  is  altogether  too  large  to  be  greeted  indi- 
vidually— one  cannot  get  his  arms  around  it.  [Laughter  and 
cheers.  ]  And  yet  so  kindly  have  you  received  me  that  I  would  be 
glad  if  to  each  of  you  I  could  convey  the  sense  of  gratitude  and 
appreciation  which  is  in  my  heart.  There  is  nothing  for  any  of 
us  to  do  but  to  open  wide  our  hearts  and  let  these  elevating  sug- 


262  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

gestions  take  possession  of  them.  I  am  sure  there  has  been  nothing 
here  to-day  that  does  not  point  in  the  direction  of  a  higher  indi- 
vidual, social,  State  and  national  life.  Who  can  look  upon  this 
vast  array  of  soldiers  who  fought  to  a  victorious  consummation 
the  war  for  the  Union  without  bowing  his  head  and  his  heart  in 
grateful  reverence?  [Great  applause.  ]  Who  can  look  upon  these 
sons  of  veterans,  springing  from  a  patriotic  ancestry,  full  of  the 
spirit  of  '61,  and  coming  into  the  vigor  and  strength  of  manhood 
to  take  up  the  burdens  that  we  must  soon  lay  down,  and  who, 
turning  from  these  to  the  sweet -faced  children  whose  hands  are 
filled  with  flowers  and  flags,  can  fail  to  feel  those  institutions  of 
liberty  are  secure  for  two  generations  at  least?  [Great  cheering.] 
I  never  knew  until  to-day  the  extent  of  the  injury  which  the  State 
of  Kansas  had  inflicted  upon  the  State  of  Indiana  [laughter  and 
cheers] — never  until  I  had  looked  upon  that  long  line  of  Indiana 
soldiers  that  you  plucked  from  us  when  the  war  was  over  by  the 
superior  inducement  which  your  fields  and  cities  offered  to  their 
ambitious  toil.  Indiana  grieves  for  their  loss,  but  rejoices  in  the 
homes  and  prosperity  they  have  found  here.  [Cheers.  ]  They  are 
our  proud  contribution  to  the  great  development  which  this  State 
has  made.  They  are  our  proud  contribution  to  that  great  national 
reputation  which  your  State,  has  established  as  the  friend  as  well 
as  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  liberty  and  law.  [Cheers.  ]  It  was  not 
unnatural  that  they,  coming  back  from  scenes  where  comrades  had 
shed  their  blood  for  liberty,  should  choose  to  find  homes  in  a  State 
that  had  the  baptism  of  martyrs'  blood  upon  its  infant  brow. 
[Prolonged  cheering.]  The  future  is  safe  if  we  are  but  true  to 
ourselves,  true  to  these  children  whose  instruction  is  committed  to 
us.  There  is  no  other  foe  that  can  at  all  obstruct  or  hinder  our 
onward  progress  except  treason  in  our  own  midst — treachery  to  the 
great  fundamental  principle  of  our  Government,  which  is  obedience 
to  the  law.  The  law,  the  will  of  the  majority  expressed  in  orderly, 
constitutional  methods,  is  the  only  king  to  which  we  bow.  But 
to  him  all  must  bow.  Let  it  be  understood  in  all  your  communi- 
ties that  no  selfish  interest  of  the  individual,  no  class  interests, 
however  entrenched,  shall  be  permitted  to  assert  their  convenience 
against  the  law.  This  is  good  American  doctrine,  and  if  it  can  be 
made  to  prevail  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union  until  every  man, 
secure  under  the  law  in  his  own  right,  is  compelled  by  the  law  to 
yield  to  every  other  man  his  rights,  nothing  can  shake  our  repose. 
[Cheers.  ] 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  you  will  excuse  me  from  the  attempt  at 
further  speech.     I  beg  you  again  to  believe  that  I  am  grateful,  so 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  2C3 

far  as  your  presence  here  has  any  personal  reference  to  myself — 
grateful  as  a  public  officer  for  this  evidence  of  your  love  and  affec- 
tion for  the  Constitution  and  the  country  which  we  all  love. 
[Great  applause.  ] 

There  is  some  grumbling  in  Kansas,  and  I  think  it  is  because 
your  advantages  are  too  great.  [Laughter.  ]  A  single  year  of  dis- 
appointment in  agricultural  returns  should  not  make  you  despair 
of  the  future  or  tempt  you  to  unsafe  expedients.  Life  is  made  up 
of  averages,  and  1  think  yours  will  show  a  good  average.  Let  us 
look  forward  with  hope,  with  courage,  fidelity,  thrift,  patience, 
good  neighborly  hearts,  and  a  patriotic  love  for  the  flag.  Kansas 
and  her  people  have  an  assured  and  happy  future.  [Prolonged 
cheers.  ] 


NORTDNVILLE,  KANSAS,   OCTOBER  10. 

AT  Nortonville  the  citizens,  and  especially  the  school 
children,  turned  out  en  masse  and  gave  the  President  the 
heartiest  of  welcomes.  Among  the  prominent  residents 
who  participated  in  the  greeting  were  Hon.  A.  J.  Perry,  S. 
P.  Griffin,  Thomas  Eckles,  C.  C.  McCarthy,  Dr.  D.  T. 
Brown,  L.P.King,  D.A.Ellsworth,  O.  U.  Babcock,  Dr. 
R.  D.  Webb,  J.  G.  Roberts,  W.  T.  Eckles,  Harry  Ellison, 
Rev.  T.  Hood,  and  M.  Crowberger.  On  behalf  of  the  school 
children  a  little  girl  climbed  the  steps  and  presented  the 
Chief  Magistrate  with  an  armful  of  beautiful  bouquets,  for 
which  she  received  a  hearty  kiss. 

Governor  Humphrey  introduced  the  President,  who 
spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — This  brief  stop  forbids  that  I  should  say  any- 
thing more  than  thank  you  and  to  extend  to  you  all  my  most  friendly 
greeting.  The  sky  is  overcast,  but  in  this  assemblage  of  your 
school  children,  with  flags  and  flowers,  and  in  this  gathering  of 
the  sturdy  men  who  have  made  Kansas  great  among  States,  there 
are  suggestions  that  spread  a  sky  of  beauty  and  hope  above  our 
country  and  its  destiny.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  make  this 
first  visit  to  Kansas.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  see  both  at 
Atchison  and  here  the  interest  which  the  presence  of  these  children 
shows  you  take  in  public  education.  There  are  many  here  who 


264  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

in  their  early  clays  experienced  the  hardships  and  privations  of 
pioneer  life.  The  avenues  of  learning  were  shut  against  them,  but 
it  is  much  to  their  credit  that  what  they  lacked  in  early  life,  the 
impediments  which  have  burdened  their  careers,  they  have  bravely 
resolved  shall  not  burden  their  children.  I  thank  you  again  for 
this  pleasant  reception,  and  I  bid  you  good-by,  as  we  proceed  on 
our  journey. 


VALLEY  FALLS,  KANSAS,  OCTOBER  10. 

AT  Valley  Falls,  Kan . ,  another  large  crowd  was  assem- 
bled. The  President  was  welcomed  by  Mayor  A.  D.  Ken- 
dall, Dr.  A.  M.  Cowan,  E.  H.  Crosby,  M.  M.  Maxwell,  Dr. 
Frank  Swallow,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Murry,  Miss  L.  M.  Ring,  and 
other  prominent  residents.  Mrs.  Dr.  Cowan,  on  behalf  of 
the  ladies,  presented  General  Harrison  with  a  basket  of 
flowers. 

In  response  to  the  enthusiastic  greetings  the  President 
said: 

My  Friends — I  thank  you  sincerely  for  this  cordial  reception.  I 
will  not  attempt  any  speech  further  than  to  say  that  this  greeting 
puts  me,  if  possible,  under  still  stronger  obligations  in  every  official 
duty  that  devolves  upon  me  to  consult  the  interests  of  the  people 
and  do  that  which  seems  to  be  most  promotive  of  public  good. 
[Cheers.  ] 


LAWRENCE,  KANSAS,  OCTOBER  10. 

THE  historic  city  of  Lawrence  was  reached  at  4:40 
o'clock,  where  the  cheers  of  an  immense  multitude,  includ- 
ing a  battalion  from  Haskell  Institute,  welcomed  the  Pres- 
ident. The  Reception  Committee  consisted  of  Mayor  A. 
Henley,  George  Innis,  W.  H.  Whitney,  Gov.  Chas.  Robin- 
son, Gen.  J.  N.  Roberts,  and  E.  F.  Goodrich.  The  veterans 
of  Washington  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  Gen.  H.  S.  Hall,  Com- 
mander, were  present  in  a  body. 

Mayor  Henley,  in  the  name  of  the  city,  welcomed  the 
President,  who,  responding,  said: 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  205 

My  Friends — I  am  sure  you  are  kind,  and  tlie  greatest  kindness 
you  can  do  me  is  not  to  ask  me  to  attempt  to  speak  again  so  re- 
cently after  attempting  at  Topeka  to  talk  to  all  the  rest  of  the  peo- 
ple in  Kansas  [laughter]  who  are  not  here.  I  supposed  until  the 
train  pulled  into  this  city  that  the  entire  citizenship  of  the  State 
was  in  the  immense  crowd  congregated  at  Topeka  to-day.  My 
voice  was  so  strained  in  attempting  to  speak  there  that  I  will  only 
say  to  you  that  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you  and  to  speak 
to  you,  even  for  a  moment,  at  this  hospitable  town.  All  the  in- 
spiration connected  with  the  story  of  the  early  history  of  Kansas 
clusters  around  the  city  of  Lawrence.  I  am  sure  you  will  find  in  that 
story  inspiration  and  suggestion  that  will  keep  the  cause  of  liberty 
ever  near  to  your  hearts.  [Great  applause.] 


KANSAS  CITY,  OCTOBER  10. 

THE  presidential  party  reached  Kansas  City  at  5 : 30 
P.M.  Friday,  where  a  grand  reception  was  tendered  the 
Chief  Executive.  The  Committee  of  Reception,  represent- 
ing the  municipality  and  business  interests,  comprised  the 
following  prominent  citizens,  who  escorted  the  President 
from  Topeka:  Mayor  Benjamin  Holmes,  Witten  Mc- 
Donald, J.  C.  James,  Joseph  Speyer,  Judge  C.  L.  Dobson, 
Col.  M.  J.  Payne,  W.  S.  Woods,  Hon.  E.  H.  Allen,  F.  L. 
Kaufman,  M.  E.  Lawrence,  Joseph  Calm,  Col.  T.  B.  Bul- 
lene,  Col.  E.  H.  Phelps,  Col.  J.  F.  Richards,  George  R. 
Barse,  Major  William  Warner,  William  Taylor,  Col.  Louis 
Hammerslough,  E.  C.  Sattley,  J.  H.  Fink,  Col.  W.  A.  Wil- 
son, Marshal  Tracy,  F.  B.  Nofsinger,  Collector  Devol,  Sur- 
veyor Guffin,  Dr.  F.  W.  Schulte,  W.  T.  Urie,  G.  S.  Hamp- 
ton, J.  H.  Smith,  M.  D.  Henderson,  H.  J.  Rosecrans,  R.  M. 
Easley,  H.  C.  Fike,  B.  S.  Flersheim,  Wm.  Barton,  H.  J. 
Long,  E.  M.  Clendeiiing,  T.  James,  James  M.  Coburn,  L. 
E.  Irwin,  C.  L.  Valandingham,  G.  W.  Hollinger,  E!  E. 
Richardson,  E.  M.  Wilcox,  J.  M.  Cooper,  W.  H.  Bundage, 
M.  H.  Dickerson,  C.  A.  Brockett,  S.  A.  Pierce,  J.  H.  Neff, 
S.  R.  Hudson,  A.  H.  Moffitt,  S.  B.  Stokely,  P.  L.  Whipple, 


266  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

J.  W.  Merrill,  D.  G.  Saunders,  F.  W.  Hatch,  G.  Bern- 
heimer,  B.  C.  Burgess,  S.  T.  Smith,  and  J.  L.  Walker. 

An  enormous  crowd  greeted  the  President  as  he  was 
driven  to  the  Coates  House,  where  the  distinguished  party 
were  entertained  at  dinner  by  Mayor  Holmes,  e£-Governor 
Crittenden,  Mayor  W.  A.  Coy,  of  Kansas  City,  Kan. ;  Gov. 
A.  J.  Smith,  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Leavenworth;  Hon. 
John  Scott  Harrison — the  President's  brother — and  other 
leading  citizens. 

In  response  to  a  toast  to  the  President's  health,  General 
Harrison  said : 

Gentlemen — I  am  sorry  to  cause  even  this  temporary  interruption 
by  leaving  the  banquet,  but  I  am  sure  you  will  all  appreciate  the 
desire  I  have  to  spend  a  few  minutes  under  my  brother's  roof  in 
your  city,  and  will  therefore  excuse  me.  Let  me  say  that  I  very 
much  appreciate  the  friendly  and  hospitable  spirit  of  the  business 
men  of  Kansas  City,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  banquet  and 
reception.  It  has  never  been  my  pleasure  before  to  visit  your  cit3r, 
but  it  has  been  well  advertised,  and  I  have  heard  of  it  frequently. 
[Laughter  and  applause.  ]  So  far  as  I  could  tell  by  the  dim  light 
of  the  evening  in  riding  through  the  city,  it  realizes  fully  my 
expectations  in  growth  and  prosperity.  [Applause.]  Let  me  say, 
in  conclusion,  that  I  hope  all  your  dreams  for  Kansas  City  may  be 
realized.  [Great  applause.] 

After  passing  the  evening  at  his  brother's  residence,  at 
8  P.M.  the  President  was  escorted  by  300  members  of  the 
Third  Regiment  and  a  cavalry  guard,  commanded  by  Col. 
Milton  Moore,  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  wiiere  an 
informal  reception  was  held. 

Major  William  Warner  introduced  the  President,  who 
said: 

My  Fellow  citizens — I  will  not  attempt  to  say  more  than  that  I 
am  very  grateful  to  you  for  your  kindness,  for  this  cordial,  genuine 
Kansas  City  welcome.  [Cheers.]  The  arrangements  which  have 
been  made,  and  which  are  intended  to  give  me  an  opportunity  to 
meet  some  of  you  personally,  and  the  early  hour  at  which  we  are 
to  take  the  train  for  St.  Louis,  make  it  inappropriate  that  I  should 
attempt  to  speak  at  any  length.  I  thank  you  again  for  your  kind- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  207 

ness,  and  will  now  submit  myself  to  such  arrangements  as  the 
committee  have  made  to  spend  the  little  time  I  have  to  spend  with 
you.  [Cheers.  J 


ST.  LOUIS,  OCTOBER  11. 

THE  President  arrived  in  St.  Louis  at  9 :  30  in  the  morn- 
ing and  received  a  royal  welcome.  As  he  drove  through 
the  city  amid  the  roar  of  cannon,  it  is  estimated  that  fully 
200,000  people  greeted  him,  and  his  journey  partook  of  a 
triumph.  The  committee  of  escort  that  met  the  President 
at  Kansas  City  consisted  of  ex-Gov.  E.  O.  Stanard,  Col.  S. 
W.  Fordyce,  Hon.  R,  C-  Kerens,  and  Marcus  Bernheimer. 
The  guard  of  honor  was  a  detail  from  the  Grand  Army, 
commanded  by  Major  Leo  Rassieur. 

The  President  was  met  on  arrival  by  the  following  dis- 
tinguished Committee  of  Reception .  His  Honor,  Mayor 
Noonan,  D.  M.  Houser,  Geo.  D.  Reynolds,  R.  M.  Scruggs, 
Nelson  Cole,  Col.  James  G.  Butler,  Col.  J.  O.  Churchill, 
Daniel  Catlin,  Wm.  M.  Senter,  John  Orrick,  John  S. 
Moffett,  S.  Newman,  D.  P.  Rowland,  John  J.  Daly,  A.  B. 
Ewing,  Miles  Sells,  John  Dillon,  Professor  Waterhouse, 
Frank  Buchanan,  John  B.  Harlow,  Marquand  Foster, 
Philip  Brockman,  Wm.  Grassmuck,  Chas.  Scudder,  John 
J.  O'Brien,  T.  J.  Cummings,  John  H.  Terry,  J.  S.  Finken- 
bauer,  C.  J.  Hanabrinck,  L.  Bohle,  O.  M.  Dean,  John  M. 
Sellers,  James  Green,  Dr.  Thomas  O'Reilly,  Samuel  Ken- 
nard,  O.  M.  Haye,  John  A.  Scudder,  H.  L.  Morrill,  S.  H. 
H.  Clark,  John  Scullen,  C.  C.  Maffitt,  Joseph  Franklin, 
Hon.  F.  G.  Niedringhaus,  Hon.  Nathan  Frank,  W.  M. 
Kinsey,  E.  S.  Rowse,  Geo.  D.  Barnard,  J.  L.  Boland,  D. 
H.  King,  C.  P.  Walbridge,  B.  F.  Harnett,  Geo.  Taylor,  R. 
P.  Tansey,  A.  S.  White,  F.  A.  Wanii,  M.  M.  Bodenheimer, 
W.  A.  Hargadine,  George  A.  Baker,  John  N.  Booth,  Geo. 
W.  Parker,  J.  D.  Thompson,  George  A.  Medill,  E.  C.  Sim- 
mons, Edwin  C.  Kehr,  G.  A.  Finkelnburg,  Marcus  Bern- 
heimer, L.  Beavis,  Charles  F.  Joy,  Henry  Hitchcock, 


268  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Wm.  H.  Thompson,  W.  F.  Niedringhaus,  Charles  Espen- 
schied,  A.  B.  Goodbaugh,  Jonathan  Rice,  Jacob  Meyer, 
Goodman  King,  D.  C.  Nugent,  John  Davis,  J.  D.  Bascom, 
R.  W.  Shapleigh,  Edgar  D.  Tilton,  John  C.  Wilkinson,  D. 
D.  Walker,  Frederick  Vaughn,  E.  F.  Williams,  J.  H. 
Wear,  C.  D.  Comfort,  C.  C.  Rainwater,  F.  W.  Humphrey, 
Michael  McGinnis,  John  Wahl,  W.  L.  Hughes,  and 
Thomas  H.  West. 

After  reviewing  the  parade  from  the  balcony  of  the 
Southern  Hotel  the  President  and  Secretary  Tracy  visited 
the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  were  tendered  a  reception 
by  the  business  men  of  the  city.  Mr.  Marcus  Bernheimer, 
President  of  the  Exchange,  occupied  the  presiding  chair 
and  introduced  Gov.  D.  R.  Francis,  who,  in  an  eloquent 
address,  welcomed  the  President  in  the  name  of  the  people 
of  Missouri.  The  Governor  was  followed  by  Hon.  Edward 
A.  Noorian,  Mayor  of  St.  Louis,  who  extended  a  "  sincere 
and  hearty  greeting,"  on  behalf  of  the  residents  of  the 
city. 

Hon.  Charles  Parsons  then  introduced  the  President, 
who  addressed  the  assemblage  as  follows : 

Governor  Francis,  Mr.  Mayor,  and  Fellow -citizens — It  is  very 
grateful  and  very  healthful  to  be  so  cordially  received  by  you  this 
morning.  The  office  which  I  have  been  called  upon  to  administer 
is  very  great  in  dignity,  but  it  is  very  full  of  care  and  heavy 
responsibility.  The  man  who  with  conscientious  regard  and  a 
proper  appreciation  of  the  great  trust  seeks  to  administer  it  for  the 
public  good  will  find  himself  daily  beset  with  perplexities  and 
doubts,  and  daily  besieged  by  those  who  differ  with  him  as  to  the 
public  administration.  But  it  is  a  great  comfort  to  know  that  we 
have  an  intelligent,  thoughtful,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  very  kind 
people,  who  judge  benevolently  and  kindly  the  acts  of  those  public 
servants  of  whose  good  disposition  to  do  right  they  are  not  left  in 
doubt.  And  it  is  very  pleasant  to  know— and  I  do  not  need  these 
eloquent  words  of  assurance  to  have  already  impressed  upon  me — 
the  great  lesson  that  there  are  more  things  in  which  we  agree  and 
have  common  interests  than  in  which  we  differ.  But  our  differ- 
ences of  opinion  as  to  public  administration  are  all  brought  to- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  2G9 

gcther  in  a  genuine  patriotism  and  love  of  country.  [Applause]. 
It  gives  me  pleasure  to  witness  since  my  last  visit  to  St.  Louis 
evidence  of  that  steady  and  uninterrupted  growth  which  this  great 
commercial  centre  has  made  since  its  birth  as  an  Indian  trad  ing  - 
post  on  the  Mississippi.  No  year  has  been  without  its  added  evi- 
dences of  progress,  development,  accumulation  of  wealth,  and 
increase  in  population.  You  have  now  passed  any  period  of  doubt 
or  uncertainty,  and  the  career  of  St.  Louis  is  assured.  You  have 
grown  like  the  oak,  annually  adding  a  ring  to  the  prosperity  and 
wealth  and  commercial  importance  of  your  great  city.  You  have 
struck  the  roots  of  your  influence  broad  and  deep  into  the  nourish- 
ing earth  of  this  great  fertile  land  in  which  you  have  lived  ,  and 
the  branches — the  high  branches  of  your  enterprise — are  reaching 
toward  the  sunlight  that  shines  upon  them.  You  are  situated  upon 
the  Mississippi  River,  giving  you  water  communication  with  the 
sea,  a  communication  which  this  Government  has  undertaken  to 
improve  and  secure,  and  which  I  believe  will  be  made  secure  by 
appropriate  legislation.  [Applause.]  Nor  do  I  know  any  rea- 
son why  these  great  lines  of  railway  stretching  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  Southwest  may  not  yet  touch  great  ports  of  commerce,  deep 
harbors,  until  they  shall  become  trunk  lines.  We  have  come  to 
regard  only  these  lines  of  railway  communication  to  eastern  sea- 
boards as  trunk  lines.  I  do  not  know  why.  Indeed,  I  believe  that 
in  the  future,  when  we  shall  have  seized  again,  as  we  will  seize  if 
we  are  true  to  ourselves,  our  own  fair  part  of  commerce  upon  the 
sea,  and  when  we  shall  have  again  our  appropriate  share  of  South 
American  trade  [cheers],  that  these  railroads  from  St.  Louis, 
touching  deep  harbors  on  the  gulf,  and  communicating  there  with 
lines  of  steamships,  shall  touch  the  ports  of  South  America  and 
bring  their  tribute  to  you.  You  shall  in  all  these  things  find 
a  special  interest,  but  an  interest  that  will  be  shared,  as  all  great 
interests  are,  by  the  Nation  and  people,  of  which  you  are  a  loyal 
and  enterprising  part.  And  now,  my  friends,  again  let  me  thank 
you,  and  all  those  who  have  spoken  in  your  behalf,  for  these 
friendly  words.  These  great  industries  of  commerce  and  manu- 
factures here  are  entwined  in  friendly  helpfulness.  As  they  are 
diversified  your  prosperity  is  increased ,  but  under  them  all,  as  the 
only  secure  rock  upon  which  they  can  rest,  is  social  order  and 
obedience  to  the  law.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  anywhere  that 
commerce  builds  only  upon  social  order.  Be  watchful  and  careful 
of  every  instrumentality  or  suggestion  which  puts  itself  against 
the  law.  Where  the  law  is  wrong  make  it  right.  [Cries  of 
"Good!"  and  cheering.]  Let  that  be  the  one  rule  of  conduct  in 


270  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  public  relations  of  every  American  citizen.     And  now,    my 
friends,  again  let  me  say  thank  you  and  good -by. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  reception  on  'Change  the  Presi- 
dent, escorted  by  the  Committee  of  Reception,  visited  the 
Fair  Grounds  and  attended  a  banquet  in  his  honor  at  the 
Jockey  Club  House.  In  the  evening  the  distinguished 
guests  visited  the  Exposition,  where  a  tremendous  crowd 
gathered.  As  the  President  entered  Music  Hall,  Gilmore's 
famous  band  struck  up  "  Hail  to  the  Chief. "  The  great 
audience  stood  and  called  repeatedly  for  a  speech.  The 
President  arose  in  his  box  and  bowed  several  times ;  but 
there  was  no  denying  their  demands,  and  Governor  Fran- 
cis finally  introduced  his  excellency,  who  said : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen— I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  life 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  like  that  of  the  policeman 
in  the  opera — not  a  happy  one.  So  many  cares  strew  his  path,  so 
many  people's  welfare  is  to  be  considered,  that  wiser  heads  than 
mine  may  well  be  puzzled.  The  attention  of  this  mighty  audience 
to-night  has  been  distracted  from  the  concert  by  my  entrance,  not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  it  has  a  leader  more  a  master  of  his  art 
than  any  other  on  the  continent.  I  did  not,  nor  do  I  desire  to 
make  a  speech  to  night.  But  as  I  have  always  declared  myself  in 
favor  of  the  rule  of  the  majority,  I  feel  compelled  to  do  so. 

From  early  morn  till  late  this  evening  the  day  has  been  one  of 
unalloyed  pleasure  to  me.  Every  possible  courtesy  has  been  shown 
our  party,  and  we  have  gathered,  I  assure  you,  a  most  high  opinion 
of  your  people  and  your  city.  This  building  is  in  every  way  a 
credit  to  St.  Louis,  the  metropolis  of  the  Southwest,  and  its  exhib- 
its do  credit  to  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  represented.  I  am 
glad  to  see  that  the  higher  arts  go  hand-in-hand  with  mechanics. 
Art,  music,  poetry,  and  song  should  not  be  separated  from  the 
homes  of  the  poor,  and  such  an  institution  as  this  cannot  fail  to 
instil  all  that  is  good  into  the  hearts  of  every  one.  Before  I  close 
let  me  tell  you  all  how  grateful  and  how  complimented  I  feel  at 
my  hearty  reception  in  your  midst.  I  shall  always  recall  this  day 
with  happy  remembrance.  Now,  won't  you  crown  the  great  cour- 
tesies of  the  day  by  allowing  me  to  end  my  speech?  [Applause.] 


HAEEISON'S  SPEECHES.  271 

ANDERSON,    INDIANA,    OCTOBER    13. 

PRESIDENT  HARRISON  passed  the  Sabbath  quietly  at  his 
Indianapolis  residence,  and  early  Monday  morning,  ac- 
companied by  Secretary  Tracy  and  Marshal  Ransdell, 
started  for  Washington. 

The  first  stop  was  at  Pendleton,  where  the  President 
shook  hands  with  quite  a  crowd.  Anderson,  the  county 
seat  of  Madison  County,  was  reached  at  7 :10,  and  a  large 
concourse  of  people  greeted  the  travellers.  The  President 
was  received  by  Hon.  Winfield  T.  Durbin,  Chas.  T.  Doxey, 
W.  A.  Kittinger,  John  F.  McClure,  Caleb  Brown,  Jacob 
Koehler,  Francis  Watkins,  A.  A.  Small,  and  other  leading 
citizens.  Mayor  Terhune,  in  a  patriotic  address,  presented 
the  Chief  Executive. 

After  acknowledging  the  cordial  greeting,  the  President 
spoke  of  the  rapid  industrial  development  of  that  section 
consequent  upon  the  discovery  and  development  of  natural 
gas,  and  predicted  a  fine  future  for  the  county.  Conclud- 
ing, he  said : 

I  am  here  to-day,  returning  to  my  duties  at  Washington  from  a 
trip  taken  to  meet  some  of  my  old  comrades  during  the  war. 
There  are  some  here  this  morning.  I  bid  them  God-speed ;  I  give 
them  a  comrade's  greeting;  and  to  you,  my  old-time  friends,  not 
in  politics,  but  in  that  pride  and  association  which  makes  us  all 
Indianians — we  are  all  proud  of  our  State  and  proud  of  our  com- 
munities— I  desire  to  say  that  while  I  have  friends  elsewhere,  these 
were  my  earliest  friends — friends  of  my  boyhood  almost,  for  I  was 
scarcely  more  than  a  boy  when  I  became  a  citizen  of  this  State, 
and  I  always  turn  to  it  with  affectionate  interest.  [Cheers.] 


MUNCIE,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Muncie  the  assemblage  was  very  large,  numbering 
over  10,000,  and  the  President  received  the  most  vociferous 
greeting  of  the  day.  Here,  as  at  other  points  in  the  State, 
hundreds  of  General  Harrison's  old  friends  crowded  forth 
to  welcome  him  and  bid  him  God-speed.  Prominent 


272  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

among  these  were:  Hon.  Frank  Ellis,  Mayor  of  the  city; 
Hon.  M.  C.  Smith,  Hon.  John  C.  Eiler,  Hon.  Fred  W. 
Heath,  Hon.  W.  W.  Or,  Hon.  O.  K  Cranor,  Hon.  Geo.  W. 
Cromer,  Judge  O.  J.  Lotz,  Dr.  G.  W.  H.  Kemper,  Dr. 
Thos.  J.  Bowles,  Dr.  A.  B.  Bradbury,  A.  L.  Kerwood,  Geo. 
L.  Lenon,  F.  E.  Putnam,  Thos.  H.  Kirby,  Charles  H.  An- 
thony, D.  H.  H.  Shewmaker,  Theodore  F.  Rose,  N.  N. 
Spence,  Chas.  M.  Kimbrough,  Webster  S.  Richey,  Thos. 
L.  Zook,  John  T.  Watterhouse,  J.  W.  Ream,  C.  E.  Jones, 
and  R.  I.  Patterson.  Mayor  Ellis  delivered  a  brief  wel- 
coming address  and  introduced  the  President,  who  spoke 
as  follows: 

My  Fellow -citizens— I  have  known  this  beautiful  city  of  yours 
and  many  of  the  people  of  this  prosperous  county  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  I  have  known  in  a  general  way  the  development  of 
your  interests  by  almost  yearly  visits  to  the  city  of  Muncie,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  in  these  two  years  I  have  been  out  of  the  State 
you  have  made  more  progress  than  in  any  ten  years  when  I  was 
in  the  State.  [Cheers.  ]  I  think  it  was  in  the  year  1886,  when  I 
spent  a  night  in  Muncie,  that  my  attention  was  drawn  by  some  of 
your  citizens,  as  darkness  settled  down,  to  a  remarkable  and  what 
was  then  thought  to  be  chiefly  a  curious  red  glow  in  your  horizon. 
It  was,  if  I  recollect  aright,  about  the  earliest  development  of  nat- 
ural gas  in  Indiana,  and  the  extent  of  this  great  field  was  wholly 
unknown.  How  rapidly  events  have  crowded  each  other  since ! 
You  have  delved  into  the  earth  and  have  found  the  supply  of  this 
most  adaptable  and  extraordinary  fuel  inexhaustible  ;  and  what  has 
it  done  for  you?  No  longer  are  you  transporting  coal  from  the 
distant  mines  to  feed  your  furnaces.  No  longer  are  you  sending 
the  choppers  into  the  woods  to  cut  your  trees  and  haul  them  in, 
that  they  may  bring  you  winter  heat  and  fuel.  The  factories  have 
been  coming  to  you.  This  convenient  heat  and  serviceable  fuel  is 
found  in  the  humblest  home  in  Muncie.  How  it  has  added  to 
your  comfort  only  those  who  have  used  it  know.  How  much  it 
has  added  to  your  prosperity  and  development  of  manufactures  here 
you  have  only  begun  to  know.  [Cheers.  ] 

The  sunlight  will  not  more  surely  shed  its  beams  on  us  this 
morning  than  this  great  tide  of  prosperity  which  has  set  in  through 
this  gas  belt  in  Indiana  shall  go  on  increasing  until  all  these  cities 
and  towns  within  its  radius  are  full  of  busy  men  and  humming 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  273 

machinery.  What  does  all  this  mean?  It  means  employment  for 
men.  It  means  happy  and  comfortable  homes  for  an  increasing 
population.  It  means  an  increased  home  market  for  the  products 
of  your  farm.  It  means  that  the  farmer  will  have  a  choice  of 
crops,  and  will  have  consumers  for  perishable  products  of  his  farm 
at  his  very  door.  It  means,  if  you  preserve  the  order  of  your  com- 
munity, if  this  good  county  of  Delaware  continues  to  maintain  its 
reputation  as  a  law-abiding,  liberty-loving,  free-school-loving  pop- 
ulation [cheers],  that  you  shall  have  a  prosperity — an  increase  of 
riches  and  of  human  comfort  that  we  have  scarcely  conceived. 

And  now,  my  friends,  all  over  this,  and  above  all  this,  and  better 
than  it  all,  let  us  keep  in  mind  those  higher  things  that  make  our 
country  great.  I  do  not  forget  that  your  good  county  sent  to  the 
war  of  the  Union,  in  the  gallant  regiments  that  went  from  this 
State,  a  multitude  of  brave  men  to  stand  by  the  flag.  [Cheers.  ] 
Some  of  them  are  with  you  to- day.  [Applause.]  Now  let  that 
love  of  the  flag  be  still  uppermost  in  your  hearts.  Nothing  has 
pleased  me  more  as  I  passed  through  some  of  our  Western  States 
than  to  see  that  the  school  children  everywhere  had  the  starry  flag 
in  their  hands.  [Cheers.]  Let  it  be  so  here  and  everywhere.  Let 
them  learn  to  love  it,  to  know  its  beauty,  in  order  that  when  the 
time  of.  peril  comes  they  may  be  ready  to  defend  it.  [Applause.  ] 
Now  to  these  friends,  I  am  most  grateful  for  your  appreciative 
kindness,  and  if  I  shall  be  able,  in  the  discharge  of  high  and  diffi- 
cult duties,  to  maintain  the  respect  and  confidence  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  of  Indiana,  other  things  will  take  care  of  themselves. 


WINCHESTER,  INDIANA,    OCTOBER  13. 

WINCHESTER'S  greeting  was  of  the  most  cordial  char- 
acter ;  a  large  share  of  the  population  of  Randolph  County 
seemed  to  have  turned  out  to  do  the  President  honor. 
Among  the  prominent  citizens  participating  were :  Lean- 
der  J.  Monks,  Albert  O.  Marsh,  Martin  B.  Miller,  C.  W. 
Moore,  Dennis  Kelley,  W.  R.  Way,  W.  E.  Miller,  T.  F. 
Moorman,  Albert  Canfield,  John  R.  Engle,  A.  C.  Beeson, 
E.  L.  Watson,  Thos.  S.  Gordon,  H.  P.  Kizer,  J.  E.  Watson, 
John  T.  Chenoweth,  W.  H.  Reinheimer,  B.  Hawthorne, 
and  B.  W.  Simmons. 

Gen.  Thomas  M.  Browne,  on  behalf  of  the  citizens,  de- 
is 


274  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

livered  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome,  and  closed  by  in- 
troducing President  Harrison,  who  said : 

My  Friends— It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  the  lips  of 
your  honored  fellow -citizen,  my  old-time  army  comrade,  these 
words  of  welcome,  spoken  in  your  behalf.  I  thank  you  and  him 
for  his  assurance  that  your  assembling  here  together  is  without 
regard  to  difference  in  belief,  and  as  American  citizens  having 
common  interests  and  a  common  love  for  the  flag  and  the  Consti- 
tution. Now,  to  these  good  people  of  Randolph  County  I  render 
this  morning  my  sincere  thanks  for  their  hearty  and  cordial  wel- 
come. No  public  servant,  in  whatever  station,  can  ever  be  in- 
different to  the  good  esteem  of  men  and  women  and  children  like 
these.  You  do  not  know  how  much  these  kindly  faces,  these 
friendly  Indiana  greetings,  help  me  in  the  discharge  of  duties  that 
are  not  always  easy. 

I  bid  you  good-by  and  God-speed.  I  do  wish  for  Indiana  and  all 
her  people  the  greatest  happiness  that  God  can  give.  [Prolonged 
cheers.] 


UNION  CITY,  INDIANA,  OCTOBER  13. 

THE  President  found  another  great  crowd  awaiting  him 
at  Union  City,  including  several  hundred  school  children, 
each  waving  a  flag.  Between  rows  of  children  he  was  es- 
corted to  the  park  near  the  station  by  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  Hon.  Theo.  Shockney,  B.  F.  Coddington,  J.  S. 
Reeves,  and  Geo.  W.  Patchell.  Arrived  -  at  the  park  he 
was  met  by  James  B.  Ross,  S.  R.  Bell,  L.  C.  Huesman,  J. 
F.  Rubey,  W.  S.  Ensign,  L.  D.  Lambert,  J.  B.  Montani, 
C.  S.  Hardy,  J.  C.  Platt,  Judge  J.  W.  Williams,  R.  G. 
Clark,  H.  H.  Le  Fever,  H.  D.  Grabs,  Chas.  Hook,  and  other 
prominent  citizens.  Senator  Shockney  made  the  welcom- 
ing address.  The  President,  responding,  said : 

Senator  Shockney  and  Fellow -citizens — The  conditions  are  not 
such  here  that  I  can  hope  to  make  many  of  you  hear  the  few  words 
that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  speak  to  you.  I  have  found  myself  in 
this  tour  through  these  Western  States,  undertaken  for  the  purpose 
of  meeting  some  of  my  comrades  of  the  late  war,  who  had  invited 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  275 

me  to  be  with  them  at  their  annual  gatherings,  repeating  the  words 
"  Thank  you"  everywhere.  I  have  felt  how  inadequate  this  word 
or  any  other  word  was  to  express  the  sense  of  gratitude  I  should 
feel  to  these  friendly  fellow -citizens  who  everywhere  greeted  me 
with  kind  words  and  kinder  faces.  I  feel  very  grateful  to  see  you, 
and  to  realize  that  if  there  are  any  fault-finders,  sometimes  with 
reason,  and  sometimes  without,  that  the  great  body  of  our  people 
are  interested  only  in  good  government,  in  good  administration,  and 
that  the  offices  shall  be  filled  by  men  who  understand  that  they  are 
the  servants  of  the  people,  and  who  serve  them  faithfully  and  well. 
If  it  were  not  so  a  President  would  despair.  Great  as  the  Govern- 
ment is,  vast  as  is  our  civil  list,  it  is  wholly  inadequate  to  satisfy 
the  reasonable  demands  of  men,  and  so,  from  disappointment,  rea- 
sonable or  unreasonable,  we  turn  with  confidence  and  receive  with 
encouragement  these  kindly  greetings  from  the  toilers  of  the  coun- 
try—the men  and  women  who  only  ask  from  the  Government  that 
it  shall  protect  them  in  their  lives,  their  property,  and  their  homes  ; 
that  it  shall  encourage  education,  provide  for  these  sweet  young 
children,  so  that  they  shall  have  an  easier  road  in  life  than  their 
fathers  had,  and  that  there  shall  be  an  absence  of  corrupt  intent  or 
act  in  the  administration  of  public  business. 

And  now,  standing  on  the  line  which  divides  these  two  States, 
the  one  for  which  I  have  the  regard  every  man  should  feel  for  his 
birthplace,  and  the  other  to  which  I  owe  everything  I  have  received 
in  civil  life  or  public  honor,  I  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
how  little  State  lines  have  to  do  with  American  life.  Some  of  you 
pay  your  taxes  on  that  side  of  the  line,  some  on  this,  but  in  your 
intercourse,  business,  and  social  ties  you  cross  this  line  unknow- 
ingly. Above  both  and  greater  than  both — above  the  just  pride 
which  Ohioans  have  in  that  noble  State,  and  above  the  just  pride 
which  we  have  in  Indiana — there  floats  this  banner  that  is  the  com- 
mon banner  of  us  all.  We  are  one  in  citizenship  ;  we  are  one  in 
devotion  to  the  Government,  which  makes  the  existence  of  States 
possible  and  their  destruction  impossible.  [Cheers.]  And  now, 
to  these  children,  to  my  Grand  Army  friends,  and  to  these  old  cit- 
izens, many  of  whom  I  have  met  under  other  conditions,  I  beg  to 
say  God  bless  you  every  one,  and  good-by. 


276  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

DE   GRAFF,  OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

CROSSING  the  Ohio  line  a  short  stop  was  made  at  Sid- 
ney, where  the  President  shook  hands  and  received  a  dele- 
gation from  Bellefontaine  headed  by  Judge  Wm.  Lawrence. 
At  De  Graff  the  President  met  with  a  cordial  reception, 
especially  from  the  school  children.  He  was  welcomed  by 
ex-Mayor  H.  P.  Runyon,  Dr.  W.  W.  Hamer,  Dr.  W.  H. 
Hinkle,  W.  E.  Haris,  G.  W.  Harnish,  John  F.  Rexer,  Dr. 
F.  M.  Galer,  Dr.  Wm.  Hance,  R.  O.  Bigley,  D.  S.  Spellman, 
D.  W.  Koch,  Benjamin  Bunker,  W.  H.  Valentine,  J.  W. 
Strayer,  and  S.  E.  Loffer. 

Superintendent  of  Schools  Joseph  Swisher  introduced 
the  President,  who  said : 

My  Friends — I  am  very  glad  to  see  you  all,  and  especially  these 
dear  young  children.  I  have  been  passing  through  a  country  glo- 
rious in  the  autumnal  tints  which  make  a  landscape  that  can  be 
seen  nowhere  else  in  the  world,  and  yet  I  turn  always  from  these 
decaying  glories  of  nature  with  great  delight  to  look  into  the 
bright  faces  of  these  happy  children,  where  I  see  a  greater,  because 
immortal,  glory.  I  thank  them  for  their  presence  here  this  morn- 
ing. I  wish  their  lives  may  be  as  sunny  and  bright  through  man- 
hood and  through  womanhood,  finding  happiness  in  usefulness.  I 
wish  I  had  time  to  shake  hands  with  you  all.  [Cheers.  ] 


BELLEFONTAINE,  OHIO,  OCTOBER  13. 

BELLEFONTAINE  accorded  the  President  an  enthusiastic 
welcome.  The  Committee  of  Reception  consisted  of  Dr. 
A.  L.  Wright,  Mayor  of  the  city;  Judge  William  Law- 
rence, Judge  West,  Judge  Price,  J.  C.  Brand,  D.  Hennesy, 
Geo.  W.  Emerson,  Aaron  Gross,  A.  C.  Elliott,  A,  E. 
Griffen,  H.  J.  King,  J.  E.  West,  I.  N.  Zearing,  and  J.  Q. 
A.  Campbell. 

Mayor  Wright  delivered  a  brief  welcoming  address  and 
introduced  the  President,  who  spoke  as  follows : 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  277 

My  Fellow -citizens— I  wish  all  of  you  could  have  seen  what  I 
have  seen  in  this  extended  but  hasty  visit  through  some  of  the 
great  States  of  the  central  West ,  the  broader  view  which  we  get 
as  we  journey  through  this  country  of  the  capabilities  of  its  soil, 
of  the  beauties  of  its  landscape,  of  the  happiness  of  its  homes,  but, 
above  all,  of  the  sturdy  manhood  of  its  people,  can  but  be  useful 
to  every  public  man  and  every  patriot.  [Applause.  ]  No  one  can 
make  such  a  journey  as  we  have  and  look  into  the  faces  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  see  how  here  in  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas,  and  Missouri  they  are  everywhere 
characterized  by  a  sturdy  independence  and  intelligent  thoughtful- 
ness  and  manhood,  and  doubt  the  future  of  this  country  of  which 
they  are  citizens.  Nothing  can  shake  its  repose  as  long  as  this 
great  mass  of  people  in  these  homes,  on  these  farms,  in  these  shops 
and  city  dwelling-places  are  true  to  themselves  and  to  their  chil- 
dren. Not  every  one  can  hope  to  reach  the  maximum  of  human 
wealth  or  enjoyment,  but  nowhere  else  is  there  so  general  a  diffu- 
sion of  human  comfort  and  the  conveniences  of  life  as  in  this  laud 
of  ours.  You  must  not,  then,  show  un  thankfulness  to  the  framere 
of  our  great  Constitution  or  to  God  by  indulging  in  gloomy  fore- 
bodings or  in  unreasonable  complaint.  He  has  not  promised  that 
everywhere  and  every  season  the  fields  should  give  full  returns. 
He  has  promised  that  the  food  of  man  should  not  fail,  and  where 
else  is  famine  unknown?  Other  countries  have  now  and  then 
appealed  for  philanthropic  help  from  abroad  to  feed  their  popula- 
tion, greater  or  less.  The  United  States  has  always  a  surplus  after 
its  people  are  fed,  and  for  this  we  should  be  thankful.  I  have 
been  told  everywhere  that  though  crops  in  some  respects  and  in 
some  places  have  been  short,  the  general  prosperity  is  very  great. 
Everywhere  I  have  been  told  that  no  wheel  is  idle,  and  that  no 
hand  is  idle  that  seeks  employment  that  honest  bread  may  come 
to  his  household.  I  believe  that  we  are  on  an  upward  grade  of 
prosperity,  if  we  will  be  brave  and  hopeful  and  true,  that  shall 
lead  us  perhaps  to  a  development  and  an  increase  of  wealth  we 
have  never  before  attained.  And  now,  my  fellow-citizens,  thank- 
ing you  for  this  friendly  morning  greeting,  I  bid  you  good- by. 
[Applause.]  Let  me  have  the  pleasure,  however,  of  introducing 
to  you  my  valued  associate  at  Washington — Secretary  Tracy. 
[Applause.  ] 


278  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

CRESTLINE,  OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

THE  people  of  "Crestline  honored  the  President  with  a 
large  assembly,  prominent  among  whom  were:  Mayor 
P.  W.  Pool,  Hon.  Daniel  Babst,  John  G.  Barney,  Alexander 
Hall,  B.  F.  Miller,  John  Whittle,  John  F.  Castle,  C.  F. 
Frank,  Dr.  W.  P.  Bennett,  L.  G.  Russell,  A.  Howorth,  G. 
B.  Thrailkill,  tE.  S.  Bagley,  D.  L.  Zink,  J.  P.  Davis,  T.  P. 
Kerr,  W.  R.  Boyd,  E.  W.  Hadley,  Samuel  Gee,  C.  C.  Hall, 
D.  S.  Patterson,  and  Richard  Youngblood. 

Mayor  Pool  welcomed  and  introduced  the  President  in  a 
brief  address.  General  Harrison  responded : 

My  Fellow -citizens — Already  some  seven  or  oight  times  this 
morning,  beginning  before  breakfast,  I  have  been  called  upon  to 
talk  briefly  to  my  fellow-citizens  who  have  gathered  at  the  various 
points  where  we  made  brief  stops  at  their  request.  The  story  I 
must  tell  you  is  the  same  old  story  I  have  been  telling  them — that 
I  am  very  grateful  for  your  friendly  expressions  and  presence ; 
very  grateful  for  the  kindliness  which  speaks  through  those  who 
address  me,  and  for  the  kindness  which  appears  in  all  your  faces. 
It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  as  against  all  enemies  of  our  country 
we  are  one,  that  we  have  great  pride,  just  pride  in  our  birthright 
as  American  citizens,  just  pride  in  the  country  of  our  adoption  as 
to  those  who  have  found  a  home  here  with  us.  It  is  the  people's 
land  more  than  any  other  country  in  the  world.  Mr.  Lincoln 
felicitously  expressed  it  to  be  a  "government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people. "  [Applause.  ]  They  originate  it ;  they 
perpetuate  it.  If  it  does  not  miss  its  purpose  it  is  administered 
for  their  good.  [Applause.]  And  so  to  you  upon  whom  the  bur- 
den of  citizenship  now  rests,  you  who  have  the  care  of  these  homes 
and  the  responsibilities  of  womanhood  ;  to  these  lads  who  will  soon 
be  citizens,  and  to  these  girls  who  are  coming  on  to  womanhood,, 
to  all  I  express  my  thanks  for  your  friendly  greeting.  [Applause.  ] 
To  every  one  of  you  I  wish  the  most  abundant  success ;  that  every 
home  represented  here  may  be  a  typical  American  home,  in  which 
morality  and  purity  and  love  sit  as  the  crowning  virtues  and  are 
household  gods.  Our  country  is  prosperous,  though  not  all  have 
attained  -this  year  the  measure  of  success  which  they  had  hoped 
for.  If  there  was  any  shortness  of  crops  anywhere,  already  the 
fields  are  green  with  the  promise  of  another  year.  Let  our  hearts 


HA RRTSON '  S  SPEECHES.  2 7  9 

be  hopeful,  let  us  he  faithful  and  true,  and  the  future  of  our  coun- 
try and  our  own  comfort  are  assured.      [Cheers.  ] 


MANSFIELD,   OHIO,  OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Mansfield,  the  home  of  Senator  Sherman,  a  large 
assemblage  greeted  the  President,  prominent  among  whom 
was  the  distinguished  Senator,  and  Hon.  Henry  C.  Hedges, 
Frank  W.  Pierson,  J.  M.  Waugh,  Frank  K.  Tracy,  Maj. 
Joseph  S.  Hedges,  Hon.  W.  S.  Kerr,  J.  R.  Brown,  Nelson 
Ozier,  Capt.  W.  S.  Bradford,  Hon.  W.  S.  Cappeller,  Hon. 
W.  M.  Hahn,  Capt,  Joseph  Brown,  G.  U.  Ham,  Maj.  W. 
W.  Smith,  Geo.  C.  Wise,  Judge  Jas.  E.  Lowry,  James  Mc- 
Coy, John  Crum,  Ried  Carpenter,  and  Wm.  C.  Hedges,  Jr. 

Senator  Sherman  introduced  the  President,  who  spoke 
briefly,  saying: 

My  Fellow -citizens — We  stop  so  frequently  upon  this  journey 
and  our  time  at  each  station  is  so  brief,  that  I  cannot  hope  to  say 
anything  that  would  be  interesting  or  instructive.  I  thank  you 
most  sincerely  for  these  friendly  manifestations.  I  am  glad  to  be 
permitted  to  stop  at  the  home  of  your  distinguished  Senator  and 
my  friend.  [Cheers.  ]  I  am  sure,  however  you  may  differ  from  him 
in  political  opinion,  the  people  of  Mansfield  and  of  Ohio  are  proud 
of  the  eminence  which  he  has  attained  in  the  counsels  of  the 
Nation  and  of  the  distinguished  service  he  has  been  able  to  render 
to  his  country  not  only  in  Congress  but  in  the  Treasury  Department. 
[Cheers.]  He  is  twin  in  greatness  with  that  military  brother  who 
led  some  of  you,  as  he  did  me,  in  some  of  the  great  campaigns  of 
the  war,  and  they  have  together  rendered  conspicuous  services  to 
this  country,  which  we,  as  they,  love  with  devoted  affection.  We 
have  so  many  common  interests  and  so  much  genuine  friendliness 
among  the  American  people  that  except  in  the  very  heat  and  ardor 
of  a  political  campaign  the  people  are  kind  to  each  other,  and  we 
soon  forget  the  rancor  of  these  political  debates.  We  ought  never 
to  forget  that  we  are  American  citizens ;  we  ought  never  to  forget 
that  we  are  put  in  charge  of  American  interests,  and  that  it  is  our 
duty  to  defend  them.  [Applause.  ]  Thanking  you  again  for  your 
presence  and  kindliness,  I  bid  you  good-by.  [Applause.] 


280  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

WOOSTER,  OHIO,  OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Wooster,  the  seat  of  the  well-known  university,  the 
presidential  party  received  a  rousing  greeting,  especially 
from  the  students  with  their  college  cry.  At  the  head  of 
the  Committee  of  Reception  was  the  venerable  Professor 
Stoddard,  formerly  professor  of  chemistry  at  Miami  Uni- 
versity when  Benjamin  Harrison  attended  that  institute. 
Among  other  prominent  townsmen  who  received  the  Pres- 
ident were:  Hon.  M.  L.  Smyser,  Hon.  A.  S.  McClure, 
Jacob  Frick,  Col.  C.  V.  Hard,  Capt.  Harry  McClarran,  Dr. 
John  A.  Gann,  Dr.  R.  N.  Warren,  Capt.  R.  E.  Eddy,  Lieut. 
W.  H.  Woodland,  W.  O.  Beebe,  Dr.  J.  D.  Robison,  Wm. 
Annat,  John  C.  Hall,  Enos  Pierson,  R.  J.  Smith,  Samuel 
Metzler,  Geo.  W.  Reed,  C.  W.  McClure,  A.  G.  Coover,  A. 
M.  Parish,  Anthony  Wright,  Abram  Plank,  J.  S.  R.  Over- 
holt,  Jesse  McClellan,  David  Nice,  Andrew  Branstetter, 
Charles  Landam,  Wm.  F.  Kane,  Capt.  Lemuel  Jeffries, 
Sylvester  F.  Scovel,  D.D.,  0.  A.  Hills,  D.D.,  Jas.  M. 
Quinby,  R.  W.  Funck,  and  Harry  Heuffstot. 

Congressman  Smyser  introduced  the  President,  who 
said: 

My  Fellow-citizens— If  anything  could  relieve  the  sense  of  weari- 
ness which  is  ordinarily  incident  to  extended  railroad  travel,  it 
would  be  the  exceeding  kindness  with  which  we  have  been  every- 
where received  by  our  fellow-citizens,  and  to  look  upon  an  audience 
like  that  assembled  here,  composed  in  part  of  venerable  men  who 
experienced  the  hardships  of  early  life  in  Ohio,  of  some  of  those 
venerable  women  who  shared  those  labors  and  self-denials  of  early 
life  in  the  West,  and  in  part  of  their  sons,  that  gallant  second 
generation,  who,  in  the  time  of  the  Nation's  peril  in  1861,  sprang 
to  its  defence  and  brought  the  flag  home  in  honor  [applause],  and 
in  part  of  these  young  men  here  undergoing  that  discipline  of 
mind  which  is  to  fit  them  for  useful  American  citizenship,  full  of 
the  ambitions  of  early  manhood,  and,  I  trust,  rooted  in  the  princi- 
ples of  morality  and  loyalty  [applause],  and  in  part  of  these  sweet- 
faced  children,  coming  from  your  schools  and  homes  to  brighten 
with  their  presence  this  graver  assembly.  Where  else  in  the 
world  could  such  a  gathering  be  assembled?  Where  else  so  much 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  281 

social  order  as  here?    The  individual  free  to  aspire  and  work,  the 
community  its  own  police  officer  and  guardian. 

We  are  here  as  American  citizens,  having,  first,  duties  to  our 
families,  then  to  our  neighborhood — to  the  institutions  and  busi- 
ness with  which  we  are  connected — but  above  all,  and  through  and 
by  all  these  duties,  to  our  country  and  to  God,  by  whose  beneficial 
guidance  our  Government  was  founded,  by  whose  favor  and  pro- 
tection it  has  been  preserved.  [Applause.  ]  Friendly  to  all  peoples 
of  the  world,  we  will  not  thwart  their  course  or  provoke  quarrels 
by  unfriendly  acts,  neither  will  we  be  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  we 
are  charged  here  first  with  the  conservation  and  promotion  of 
American  interests,  and  that  our  Government  was  founded  for  its 
own  citizenship.  [Applause  and  cheers.]  But  I  cannot  speak  at 
further  length.  I  must  hurry  on  to  other  places,  where  kind  people 
are  impatiently  awaiting  our  coming,  and  to  duties  which  will  be 
assumed  and  undertaken  with  more  courage  since  I  have  so  often 
looked  into  the  kind  faces  of  the  people  whom  I  endeavor  to  serve. 
[Applause.]  Let  me  present  to  you  now,  and  I  do  so  with  great 
pleasure,  one  of  the  gentlemen  called  by  me  under  the  Constitution 
to  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  Government — one  whom  I 
know  you  have  learned  to  love  and  honor  as  you  are  now  privi- 
leged to  know  —  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy.  [Cheers.  ] 


ORRVILLE,    OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Orrville,  Wayne  County,  it  was  not  contemplated  to 
stop ;  but  so  large  and  enthusiastic  was  the  crowd  the  Pres- 
ident held  a  brief  reception.  Among  the  prominent  towns- 
men who  welcomed  him  were :  A.  H.  Walkey,  S.  N.  Coe, 
A.  E.  Clark,  J.  W.  Hostetter,  A.  Dennison,  K  S.  Brice,  D. 
J.  Luikheim,  and  John  Trout. 

In  response  to  repeated  cries  of  "speech,"  the  President 
said:  "Fellow-citizens — The  American  people  are  very 
kind" — at  this  point  the  train  started,  and  the  President 
closed  abruptly  by  saying — "and  I  feel  sure  that  they 
will  here  excuse  my  failure  to  make  a  speech."  There 
were  loud  shouts  of  laughter  at  the  President's  readiness 
as  the  train  pulled  out. 


282  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


MASSILLON,    OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Massillon  several  thousand  people  assembled  and 
great  enthusiasm  prevailed.  The  Committee  of  Reception 
consisted  of  Hon.  William  M.  Reed,  Mayor  of  the  city; 
Prof.  E.  A.  Jones,  Hon.  J.  Walter  McClymonds,  Hon.  S. 
A.  Conrad,  William  F.  Ricks,  Clement  Russell,  and  Joseph 
Grapevine,  Esq.  The  Grand  Army  veterans  and  school 
children  were  present  in  force.  Mayor  Reed  made  the 
welcoming  address. 

President  Harrison,  responding,  said : 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow- citizens — The  burden  of  obligation  con- 
nected with  this  visit  is  put  upon  me  by  the  enthusiasm  and 
magnitude  of  this  welcome  which  you  have  extended  to  me.  It 
gives  me  pleasure  to  stop  for  a  brief  moment  in  a  city  widely  cele- 
brated for  its  industries,  and  among  a  people  widely  celebrated  for 
their  virtues  and  intelligence.  [Cheers.]  It  was  especially  grati- 
fying as  we  passed  in  your  suburbs,  one  of  these  busy  hives  of 
industry,  to  see  upon  the  bank,  waving  with  hearty  cheers,  the 
operatives  in  their  work- day  clothes.  It  is  of  great  interest  to 
know  that  you  have  these  diversified  industries  among  you.  Your 
lot  would  be  unhappy  and  not  prosperous  if  you  were  all  pursuing 
the  same  calling,  even  if  it  were  the  calling  to  which  I  belong,  the 
profession  of  the  law.  [Laughter.] 

It  is  well  that  your  interchanging  industries  and  pursuits  lean 
upon  and  help  each  other,  increasing  and  making  possible  indeed 
the  great  prosperity  which  you  enjoy.  I  hope  it  is  true  here  that 
everybody  is  getting  a  fair  return  for  his  labor.  We  cannot  afford 
in  America  to  have  any  discontented  classes,  and  if  fair  wages  are 
paid  for  fair  work  we  will  have  none.  [Cheers.]  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  believe  that  cheapness  is  the  highest  good.  I  am  not 
one  of  those  who  believe  that  it  can  be  to  my  interest,  or  to  yours, 
to  purchase  in  the  market  anything  below  the  price  that  pays  to 
the  men  who  make  it  fair  living  wages.  [Great  cheering.]  We 
should  all  "live  and  let  live"  in  this  country.  [Cheers.]  Our 
strength,  our  promise  for  the  future,  our  security  for  social  happi- 
ness are  in  the  contentment  of  the  great  masses  who  toil.  It  is  in 
kindly  intercourse  and  relationship  between  capital  and  labor,  each 
having  its  appropriate  increase,  that  we  shall  find  the  highest  good, 
the  capitalist  and  employer  everywhere  extending  to  those  who 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  283 

work  for  human  rights  a  kindly  consideration  with  compensatory 
wages.      [Cheers.  ] 

Now,  to  these  children  and  Grand  Army  friends  who  greet  me 
here,  I  say,  thank  you  and  God  speed  you  and  good-by.     [Cheers.] 


CANTON,    OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

CANTON,  the  home  of  Hon.  William  McKinley,  Jr., 
gave  the  President  a  most  cordial  and  clamorous  greeting. 
The  G.  A.  R.  and  other  organizations  were  out  in  full 
force.  Among  the  leading  citizens  who  welcomed  the 
Chief  Executive  were :  W.  K.  Miller,  W.  L.  Alexander, 
Judge  J.  P.  Fawcett,  J.  M.  Campbell,  Judge  J.  W.  Under- 
bill, Andrew  D.  Braden,  Col.  J.  E.  Dougherty,  Col.  J.  J. 
Clark,  NT.  Holloway,  and  Capt.  C.  T.  Oldfield. 

Major  McKinley  introduced  the  President,  who  ad- 
dressed the  large  assemblage,  saying : 

My  Fellow -citizens — The  inconvenience  which  you  suffer  to-day, 
and  under  which  I  labor  in  attempting  to  speak  to  you,  comes  from 
the  fact  that  there  are  more  of  you  here  than  can  come  within  the 
range  of  my  voice,  but  not  more,  I  assure  you,  my  fellow- citizens, 
than  I  can  take  and  do  take  most  hospitably  in  my  regard. 
[Cheers.]  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  stand  here  in  the  prosper- 
ous and  growing  city  of  Canton.  I  am  glad  to  be  at  the  home  of 
one  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  in  Congressional  duties  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  who  in  all  personal  relations  with  me,  as  I 
believe  in  all  personal  relations  with  you,  his  neighbors,  has  won 
my  regard,  as  I  am  sure  he  has  won  yours  [cheers]  ;  and  without 
any  regard  to  what  may  be  thought  of  the  McKinley  bill,  I  am  sure 
here  to-day  you  are  all  the  good  neighbors  and  friends  of  William 
McKinley.  [Cheers.]  Kind-hearted  and  generous  as  he  seems  to 
me,  I  am  sure  he  has  not  failed  in  these  social  relations,  whatever 
judgment  you  may  have  of  his  political  opinions,  in  making  the 
masses  of  the  people  proud  of  him  as  their  distinguished  friend. 
[Cheers.] 

You  have  here  to-day  the  representatives  of  men  from  the  shops, 
from  the  railroads,  from  the  stores,  from  the  offices  of  your  city. 
You  are  living  together  in  those  helpful  and  interchanging  rela- 
tions which  make  American  life  pleasant  and  which  make  Ameri- 
can cities  prosperous.  The  foundation  of  our  society  is  in  the 


284  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

motto  that  every  man  shall  have  such  wages  as  will  enable  him 
to  live  decently  and  comfortably,  and  rear  his  children  as  helpful 
and  safe  and  useful  American  citizens.  [Cheers.  ]  We  all  desire, 
I  am  sure — every  kindly  heart — that  all  the  relations  between 
employers  and  workmen  shall  be  friendly  and  kind,  I  wish  every- 
where the  associations  were  closer  and  employers  more  thoughtful 
of  those  who  work  for  them.  I  am  sure  there  is  one  thing  in 
which  we  all  agree,  whatever  our  views  may  be  on  the  tariff  or 
finance,  and  that  is,  there  is  no  prosperity  that  in  the  wide,  liberal 
sense  does  not  embrace  within  it  every  deserving  and  industrious 
man  and  woman  in  the  community.  [Cheers.]  We  are  here  all 
responsible  citizens,  and  we  should  all  be  free  from  anything  that 
detracts  from  our  liberties  and  independence,  or  that  retards  the 
development  of  our  intelligence,  morality,  and  patriotism. 

I  am  glad  here  to  speak  to  some,  too,  who  were  comrades  in  the 
great  struggle  of  the  Civil  War  [cheers]  ;  glad  that  there  are  here 
soldiers  who  had  part  in  that  great  success  by  which  our  institu- 
tions were  preserved  and  the  control  and  sovereignty  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  law  were  forever  established.  [Cheers.]  To  them, 
and  to  all  such  friends,  I  extend  to-day  a  hearty  greeting,  and 
would  if  I  could  extend  a  comrade's  hand.  [Cheers.]  And  now, 
my  friends,  the  heat  of  this  day,  the  exhaustion  of  a  dozen  speeches, 
made  at  intervals  as  we  have  come  along,  renders  it  impossible 
that  I  should  speak  to  you  longer.  I  beg  to  thank  you  all  for  your 
presence.  I  beg  to  hope  that,  as  American  citizens,  however  we 
differ  about  particular  matters  of  legislation  or  administration, 
we  are  all  pledged,  heart  and  soul,  life  and  property,  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union  and  to  the  honor  of  our  glorious  flag.  [Great 
cheering.  ] 


ALLIANCE,    OHIO,    OCTOBER  13. 

AT  Alliance  the  assembly  was  very  large.  A  Reception 
Committee,  headed  by  Mayor  J.  M.  Still  well  and  compris- 
ing the  following  leading  citizens,  met  the  President: 
Hon.  David  Fording,  H.  W.  Harris,  T.  R.  Morgan,  Win. 
Brinker,  Madison  Trail,  Dr.  J.  H.  Tressel,  H.  W.  Brush, 
W.  H.  Morgan,  Thos.  Brocklebank,  Chas.  Ott,  Dr.  W.  P. 
Preston,  E.  N.  Johnston,  J.  H.  Focht,  W.  H.  Ramsey,  W. 
W.  Webb,  E.  E.  Scranton,  Henry  Heer,  Jr.,  and  Harper 
Brosius. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  285 

Chairman  Fording  delivered  a  welcoming  address  and 
introduced  President  Harrison,  who  in  response  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — There  is  nothing  in  which  the  American 
people  are  harder  upon  their  public  servants  than  in  the  insatiable 
demand  they  make  for  public  speech.  I  began  talking  before 
breakfast  this  morning,  and  have  been  kept  almost  continuously  at 
it  through  the  day,  with  scarcely  time  for  lunch ;  and  yet,  as  long 
as  the  smallest  residuum  of  strength  or  voice  is  left  I  cannot  fail 
to  recognize  these  hearty  greetings  and  to  say  some  appreciative 
word  in  return.  I  do  very  much  thank  you,  and  I  do  very  deeply 
feel  the  cordial  enthusiasm  with  which  you  have  received  me.  It 
is  very  pleasant  to  know  that  as  American  citizens  we  love  our 
Government  and  its  institutions,  and  are  all  ready  to  pay  appro- 
priate respect  to  any  public  officer  who  endeavors  in  such  light  as 
he  has  to  do  his  public  duty.  This  homage  is  not  withheld  by 
one's  political  opponents,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  in  all 
things  that  affect  the  integrity  and  honor  and  perpetuity  of  our 
Government  we  rise  above  party  ties  and  considerations.  The 
interests  of  this  Government  are  lodged  with  you.  There  is  not 
much  that  a  President  can  do  to  shape  its  policy.  He  is  charged 
under  the  Constitution  with  the  duty  of  making  suggestions  to 
Congress,  but,  after  all,  legislation  originates  with  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  policy  of  our  laws  is  directed  by  it. 
The  President  may  veto,  but  he  cannot  frame  a  bill.  Therefore  it 
is  of  great  interest  to  you,  and  to  all  our  people,  that  you  should 
choose  such  men  to  represent  you  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  as  will  faithfully  promote  those  policies  to  which  you  have 
given  your  intelligent  adhesion.  This  country  of  ours  is  secure, 
and  social  order  is  maintained,  because  the  great  masses  of  our 
people  live  in  contentment  and  some  good  measure  of  comfort. 
God  forbid  that  we  should  ever  reach  the  condition  which  has  been 
reached  by  some  other  countries,  where  all  that  is  before  many  of 
their  population  is  the  question  of  bare  subsistence,  where  it  is 
simply  "how  shall  I  find  bread  for  to-day?"  No  hopes  of  accumu- 
lation ;  no  hope  of  comfort ;  no  hope  of  education,  or  higher  things 
for  the  children  that  are  to  come  after  them.  God  be  blessed  that 
that  is  not  our  condition  in  America !  Here  is  a  chance  to  every 
man  ;  here  fair  wages  for  fair  work,  with  education  for  the  masses, 
with  no  classes  or  distinctions  to  keep  down  the  ambitious  young. 
We  have  a  happy  lot.  Let  us  not  grumble  if  now  and  then  things 
are  not  prosperous  as  they  might  be.  Let  us  think  of  the  average, 
and  if  this  year's  crop  is  not  as  full  as  we  could  wish,  we  have 


286  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

already  in  these  green  fields  the  promise  of  a  better  one  to  come. 
Let  us  not  doubt  that  we  are  now — as  I  have  seen  the  evidence  of 
it  in  a  very  extended  trip  through  the  West — entering  upon  an  up 
grade  in  all  departments  of  business.  [Cheers.  ]  Everywhere  I 
went,  in  the  great  city  of  St.  Louis  and  the  smaller  manufacturing 
towns  through  which  we  passed,  there  was  one  story  to  tell — and 
I  have  no  doubt  it  is  true  in  your  midst — every  wheel  is  running 
and  every  hand  is  busy.  [Cheers.]  I  believe  the  future  is  bright 
before  us  for  increasingly  better  times  for  all,  and  as  it  comes  I 
hope  it  may  be  so  generally  diffused  that  its  kindly  touch  may  be 
felt  by  every  one  who  hears  me,  and  that  its  beneficent  help  may 
come  into  every  home.  [Prolonged  cheers.  ] 


KANSAS  CITY,  MISSOURI,  APRIL  14,  1891. 
Letter  to  Western  States  Commercial  Congress. 

THE  first  Western  States  Commercial  Congress  met  at 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  April  14,  1891.  Delegations  composed 
mainly  of  business  men,  appointed  by  the  Governors  of  the 
various  States  and  Territories,  were  present  from  the  fol- 
lowing Western  and  Southern  States  and  Territories: 
Alabama,  California,  Colorado,  Georgia,  Idaho,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Michigan, 
Minnesota,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska, 
Tennessee,  Texas,  Washington,  Wisconsin,  Wyoming, 
New  Mexico,  and  Oklahoma.  On  motion  of  Governor 
Francis,  of  Missouri,  State  Senator  H.  B.  Kelly,  of  Kan- 
sas, was  chosen  Chairman  of  the  Congress  and  Hon. 
John  W.  Springer,  of  Illinois,  Secretary.  Letters  of 
regret  were  read  from  those  who  had  been  specially  in- 
vited to  attend  the  Congress.  Among  the  letters  was 
the  following  from  President  Harrison : 

WASHINGTON,  April  7. 
HON.  H.  B.  KELLY,  Chairman,  Kansas  City,  Mo.  : 

DEAR  SIR — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  March  24,  inviting  me  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  com- 
mercial congress  of  the  Western  agricultural  and  mining  States,  to 
assemble  in  Kansas  City,  April  14  to  19,  for  the  purpose  of  consid- 


I^AERISON'S  SPEECHES.  287 

ering  measures  affecting  the  general  agricultural  and  business 
prosperity  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  States.  I  regret  that  it  will 
not  be  possible  for  me  to  accept  this  invitation.  If  I  am  not 
detained  here  by  public  business  I  shall  probably  start  about  that 
time  for  the  Pacific  coast  by  the  Southern  route ;  and  if  that  pur- 
pose should  be  thwarted  it  will  be  by  considerations  that  will  also 
prevent  the  acceptance  of  your  invitation. 

A  public  discussion  of  the  conditions  affecting  agricultural  and 
business  prosperity  cannot  but  be  helpful,  if  it  is  conducted  on 
broad  lines  and  is  hospitable  to  differences  of  opinion.  The  ex- 
traordinary development  of  the  productions  of  agriculture  which 
has  taken  place  in  a  recent  period  in  this  country  by  reason  of  the 
rapid  enlargement  of  the  area  of  tillage  under  the  favoring  land 
laws  of  the  United  States,  very  naturally  has  called  attention  to 
the  value,  and,  indeed,  the  necessity  of  larger  markets.  I  am  one 
of  those  who  believe  that  a  home  market  is  necessarily  the  best 
market  for  the  producer,  as  it  measurably  emancipates  him  in  pro- 
portion to  its  nearness  from  the  exactions  of  the  transportation 
companies.  If  the  farmer  could  deliver  his  surplus  produce  to  the 
consumer  out  of  his  farm-wagon  his  independence  and  his  profits 
would  be  larger  and  surer.  It  seems  to  me  quite  possible  to  attain 
a  largely  increased  market  for  our  staple  farm  products  without 
impairing  our  home  market  by  opening  the  manufacturing  trades 
to  a  competition  in  which  foreign  producers,  paying  a  lower  scale 
of  wages,  would  have  the  advantage.  A  policy  that  would  reduce 
the  number  of  our  people  engaged  in  mechanical  pursuits  or 
diminish  their  ability  to  purchase  food  products  by  reducing  wages 
cannot  be  helpful  to  those  now  engaged  in  agriculture.  The  farm- 
ers insist  that  the  prices  of  farm  products  have  been  too  low — below 
the  point  of  fair  living  and  fair  profits.  I  think  so  too,  but  I  vent- 
ure to  remind  them  that  the  plea  they  make  involves  the  conces- 
sion that  things  may  be  too  cheap.  A  coat  may  be  too  cheap  as 
well  as  corn.  The  farmer  who  claims  a  good  living  and  profits  for 
his  work  should  concede  the  same  to  eveiy  other  man  and  woman 
who  toils. 

I  look  with  great  confidence  to  the  completion  of  further  recip- 
rocal trade  arrangements,  especially  with  the  Central  and  South 
American  states,  as  furnishing  new  and  large  markets  for  meats, 
breadstuffs,  and  an  important  line  of  manufactured  products. 
Persistent  and  earnest  efforts  are  also  being  made,  and  a  consider- 
able measure  of  success  has  already  been  attained,  to  secure  the 
removal  of  restrictions  which  we  have  regarded  as  unjust  upon  the 
admission  and  use  of  our  meats  and  live  cattle  in  some  of  the 


288  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

European  countries.  I  look  with  confidence  to  a  successful  termi- 
nation of  the  pending  negotiations,  because  I  cannot  but  assume 
that  when  the  absolutely  satisfactory  character  of  the  sanitary 
inspections  now  provided  by  our  law  is  made  known  to  those  for- 
eign states  they  will  promptly  relax  their  discriminating  regula- 
tions. No  effort  and  none  of  the  powers  vested  in  the  Executive 
will  be  left  unused  to  secure  an  end  which  is  so  desirable. 

Your  deliberations  will  probably  also  embrace  consideration  of 
the  question  of  the  volume  and  character  of  our  currency.  It  will 
not  be  possible  and  would  not  be  appropriate  for  me  in  this  letter 
to  enter  upon  any  elaborate  discussion  of  these  questions.  One  or 
two  things  I  will  say,  and  first,  I  believe  that  every  person  who 
thoughtfully  considers  the  question  will  agree  with  me  upon  a 
proposition  which  is  at  the  base  of  all  my  consideration  of  the 
currency  question,  namely,  that  any  dollar,  paper  or  coin,  that  is 
issued  by  the  United  States  must  be  made  and  kept  in  its  commer- 
cial uses  as  good  as  any  other  dollar.  So  long  as  any  paper  money 
issued  or  authorized  by  the  United  States  Government  is  accepted 
in  commercial  use  as  the  equivalent  of  the  best  coined  dollar  that 
we  issue,  and  so  long  as  every  coined  dollar,  whether  of  silver  or 
gold,  is  assured  of  an  equivalent  value  in  commercial  use,  there 
need  be  no  fear  as  to  an  excess  of  money.  The  more  such  money 
the  better.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  when  any  issue  of  paper  or 
coined  dollars  is,  in  buying  and  selling,  rated  at  a  less  value  than 
other  paper  or  coined  dollars,  we  have  passed  the  limit  of  safe 
experiment  in  finance.  If  we  have  dollars  of  differing  values,  only 
the  poorest  w-ill  circulate.  The  farmer  and  the  laborer,  who  are 
not  in  hourly  touch  with  the  ticker  of  the  telegraph,  will  require, 
above  all  other  classes  of  our  community,  a  dollar  of  full  value. 
Fluctuations  and  depreciations  are  always  at  the  first  cost  of  these 
classes  of  our  community.  The  banker  and  the  speculator  antici- 
pate, discount,  and  often  profit  by  such  fluctuations.  It  is  very 
easy,  under  the  impulse  of  excitement  of  the  stress  of  money  strin- 
gency, to  fall  into  the  slough  of  a  depreciated  or  irredeemable 
currency.  It  is  a  very  painful  and  slow  business  to  get  out  when 
once  in. 

I  have  always  believed,  and  do  now  more  than  ever  believe,  in 
bimetallism,  and  favor  the  fullest  use  of  silver  in  connection  with 
our  currency  that  is  compatible  with  the  maintenance  of  the  parity 
of  the  gold  and  silver  dollars  in  their  commercial  uses.  Nothing, 
in  my  judgment,  would  so  much  retard  the  restoration  of  the  free 
use  of  silver  by  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world  as  legislation 
adopted  by  us  that  would  result  in  placing  this  country  upon  a  basis 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  289 

of  silver  monometallism.  The  legislation  adopted  by  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  Fifty-first  Congress  I  was  assured  by  leading  advocates  of 
free  coinage — representatives  of  the  silver  States — would  promptly 
and  permanently  bring  silver  to  $1.29  per  ounce  and  keep  it  there. 
That  anticipation  has  not  been  realized.  Our  larger  use  of  silver 
has  apparently,  and  for  reasons  not  yet  agreed  upon,  diminished 
the  demand  for  silver  in  China  and  India. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  in  this  letter  to  elaborate, 
and  that  propositions  only  can  be  stated,  I  am  aware  that  what  I 
have  said  may  be  assailed  in  points  where  it  is  easily  defensible, 
but  where  I  have  not  attempted  to  present  the  argument. 

I  have  not  before,  excepting  in  an  official  way,  expressed  myself 
on  these  subjects ;  but  feeling  the  interest,  dignity,  and  impor- 
tance of  the  assemblage  in  whose  behalf  you  speak,  I  have  ventured, 
without  bigotry  of  opinion,  without  any  assumption  of  infalli- 
bility, but  as  an  American  citizen,  having  a  most  earnest  desire 
that  every  individual  and  every  public  act  of  my  life  shall  conduce 
to  the  glory  of  our  country  and  the  prosperity  of  all  our  people,  to 
submit  these  views  for  your  consideration. 

Very  respectfully,  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT,   1891. 

PRESIDENT  HARRISON  started  on  his  memorable  jour- 
ney to  Texas  and  the  Pacific  Coast  States  at  12 :15  o'clock 
Tuesday  morning,  April  14,1891.  The  party  consisted 
of  the  President  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  Postmaster- General 
John  Wanamaker,  Secretary  of  Agriculture  J.  M.  Rusk, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  B.  Harrison,  Mrs.  J.  R.  McKee,  Mrs. 
Dimmick,  Maj.  J.  P.  Sanger,  Military  Aid  to  the  Presi- 
dent, Marshal  Daniel  M.  Ransdell,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo.  W. 
Boyd,  Mr.  E.  F.  Tibbott,  stenographer  to  the  President,  and 
Alfred  J.  Clark,  O.  P.  Austin,  and  R.  Y.  Oulahan,  press 
representatives.  At  Chattanooga  the  party  was  joined 
by  the  President's  younger  brother,  Mr.  Carter  B.  Harrison, 
and  wife,  and  at  Los  Angeles  by  Mr.  C.  L.  Saunders. 

The  train  that  safely  carried  the  head  of  the  Nation  on  this 
great  tour  was  a  marvel  of  mechanical  perfection  unrivalled 

19 


290  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

in  equipment.  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Boyd,  General  Assistant  Pas- 
senger Agent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  prepared  the 
schedule  and  had  charge  of  the  train  throughout. 

No  predecessor  of  President  Harrison  ever  attempted 
the  great  task  of  travelling  10,000  miles,  or  delivering  140 
impromptu  addresses  within  the  limit  of  30  days — an 
achievement  remarkable  in  many  respects.  His  long- 
extended  itinerary  was  an  almost  continuous  series  of  re- 
ceptions and  responses,  and  there  is  no  instance  where  any 
man  in  public  life,  subjected  to  the  requirements  of  a 
similar  hospitable  ordeal,  has  acquitted  himself  with 
greater  dignity,  tact,  and  good  sense  both  as  to  the  matter 
and  manner  of  his  utterances.  This  series  of  speeches  is 
in  marked  contrast  with  his  incisive  utterances  during  the 
campaign  of  1888,  and  disclose  General  Harrison's  ability 
to  seize  the  vital  topic  of  the  moment  and  present  it  to  a 
mixed  audience  in  such  a  way  that  while  consistent  with 
his  own  record  he  yet  raises  no  antagonisms. 


ROANOKE,    VIRGINIA,  APRIL  14. 

LEAVING  Washington  shortly  after  midnight,  the  train 
passed  through  Lynchburg  at  an  early  hour  and  arrived  at 
Roanoke,  its  first  stopping-point,  at  8 :  50  A.M.  Seemingly 
the  entire  population  of  the  enterprising  city  was  out  to 
welcome  the  President  to  Old  Virginia.  Prominent  among 
those  who  greeted  the  party  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  G. 
Eddy,  W.  B.  Bevill,  John  A.  Pack,  Allen  Hull,  A.  S.  As- 
berry,  and  John  D.  Smith. 

After  shaking  hands  with  several  hundred,  President 
Harrison,  in  response  to  repeated  calls,  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  desire  to  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  this 
friendly  greeting.  The  State  of  Virginia  is  entitled,  I  think,  to 
high  estimation  among  the  States  for  its  great  history — for  the 
contribution  it  has  made  to  the  great  story  of  our  common  country. 
This  fact  you  discovered,  I  think,  long  ago.  For  personal  reasons 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  291 

I  have  great  affection  for  Virginia.  It  is  the  State  of  my  fathers. 
1  am  glad  this  morning  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  marvellous 
development  which  has  come,  and  the  greater  which  is  coming,  to 
your  commonwealth. 

You  not  only  have  an  illustrious  story  behind  you,  but  before 
you  prospects  of  development  in  wealth  and  prosperity,  in  all  that 
makes  a  great  State,  such  as  never  entered  into  the  imagination  of 
those  who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  commonwealth.  [Cheers.  ] 
You  are  arousing  now  to  a  realization  of  the  benefits  of  diversity 
of  industries. 

In  the  olden  time  Virginia  was  a  plantation  State.  I  hope  she 
may  never  cease  to  have  large  agricultural  interests.  It  is  the 
foundation  of  stable  society,  but  I  rejoice  with  you  that  she  has 
added  to  agriculture  the  mining  of  coal  and  iron,  and,  bringing 
these  from  their  beds,  is  producing  all  the  products  that  enter  into 
the  uses  of  life. 

In  this  is  the  secret  of  that  great  growth  illustrating  what  I  see 
about  me  here,  and  the  promise  of  a  future  which  none  of  us  can 
fully  realize.  In  all  of  these  things  we  have  a  common  interest, 
and  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  in  everything  that  tends  to  the  social 
order  of  your  people  and  the  development  and  increased  prosperity 
of  the  State  of  Virginia  I  am  in  most  hearty  sympathy  with  you 
all.  [Cheers.] 


BRISTOL,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  14. 

THE  town  of  Radf ord,  Ya. ,  acknowledged  the  honor  of 
the  President's  visit  in  a  cordial  way.  General  Harrison 
shook  hands  with  many  of  the  inhabitants.  At  Bristol, 
Tenn.,  a  crowd  of  several  thousand  greeted  the  party  at 
the  station.  The  President  was  met  and  escorted  to  a  high 
bluff  overlooking  the  city  by  Hon.  Harvey  C.  Wood,  at  the 
head  of  the  following  committee  of  prominent  citizens : 
Col.  E.  C.  Manning,  Hon.  I.  C.  Fowler,  Judge  M.  B.  Wood, 
A.  S.  McNeil,  W.  A.  Sparger,  A.  C.  Smith,  C.  H.  Slack, 
Rockingham  Paul,  Esq.,  Capt.  J.  H.  Wood,  Judge  C.  J. 
St.  John,  Col.  Nat  M.  Taylor,  and  John  H.  Caldwell. 

Judge  Wood  made  the  welcoming  address  and  intro- 
duced the  President,  who,  in  response,  said : 


292  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  have  found  not  only  pleasure  but  instruc- 
tion in  riding  to-day  through  a  portion  of  the  State  of  Virginia 
that  is  feeling  in  a  very  striking  way  the  impulse  of  a  new  devel- 
opment. It  is  extremely  gratifying  to  notice  that  those  hidden 
sources  of  wealth  which  were  so  long  unobserved  and  so  long 
unused  are  now  being  found,  and  that  these  regions,  once  so  retired, 
occupied  by  a  pastoral  people,  having  difficult  access  to  the  centres 
of  population,  are  now  being  rapidly  transformed  into  busy  manu 
facturing  and  commercial  centres. 

In  the  early  settlement  of  this  city  the  emigrants  poured  over  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  Blue  Ridge  like  waters  over  an  obstructing 
ledge,  seeking  the  fertile  and  attractive  farm  regions  of  the  great 
West.  They  passed  unobserved  these  marvellous  hidden  stores  of 
wealth  which  are  now  being  brought  into  use.  Having  filled  those 
great  basins  of  the  West,  they  are  now  turning  back  to  Virginia 
and  West  Virginia  and  ^Tennessee  to  bring  about  a  development 
and  production  for  which  the  time  is  ripe,  and  which  will  surprise 
the  world.  [Cheers.] 

It  has  not  been  long  since  every  implement  of  iron,  domestic,  agri- 
cultural, and  mechanical,  was  made  in  other  States.  The  iron  point 
of  the  wooden  mould-board  plough  with  which  the  early  farmers 
here  turned  the  soil  came  from  distant  States.  But  now  Virginia 
and  Tennessee  are  stirring  their  energies  to  participate  in  a  large 
degree  in  mechanical  productions  and  in  the  great  awakening  of 
American  influence  which  will  lift  the  Nation  to  a  place  among 
the  nations  of  the  world  never  before  attained.  [Cheers.] 

What  hinders  us,  secure  in  the  market  of  our  own  great  popula- 
tion, from  successful  competition  in  the  markets  of  the  world? 
What  hinders  our  people,  possessing  every  element  of  material 
wealth  and  endowed  with  inventive  genius  and  energy  unsurpassed, 
from  having  again  upon  the  seas  a  merchant  marine  flying  the  flag 
of  our  country  and  carrying  its  commerce  into  every  sea  and  every 
port? 

I  am  glad  to  stand  for  this  moment  among  you,  glad  to  express 
my  sympathy  with  you  in  every  enterprise  that  tends  to  develop 
your  State  and  local  communities ;  glad  to  stand  with  you  upon 
the  one  common  platform  of  respect  to  the  Constitution  and  the  law, 
differing  in  our  policies  as  to  what  the  law  should  be,  but  pledged 
with  a  common  devotion  and  obedience  to  law  as  the  majority 
shall  by  their  expressions  make  it. 

I  shall  carry  away  from  here  a  new  impulse  to  public  duty,  a 
new  inspiration  as  a  citizen  with  you  of  a  country  whose  greatness 
is  only  dawning.  And  may  I  now  express  the  pleasure  I  shall 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  293 

have  in  every  good  that  comes  to  you  as  a  community  and  to  each 
of  you  as  individuals?  May  peace,  prosperity,  and  social  order 
dwell  in  your  communities,  and  the  fear  and  love  of  God  in  every 
home !  [Cheers.  ] 


JOHNSON    CITY,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  14. 

THE  President  was  welcomed  at  Johnson  City  by  3,000 
people.  S.  K.  N.  Patton  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  with  Maj.  A. 
Cantwell,  J.  M.  Erwin,  and  W.  Hodges,  acted  as  a  guard  of 
honor  to  the  Chief  Magistrate.  The  committee  to  receive 
and  entertain  the  President  comprised :  Mayor  Ike  T. 
Jobe,  Hon.  W.  G.  Mathes,  President  Board  of  Trade;  Hon. 
T.  F.  Singiser,  Hon.  A.  B.  Bowman,  Hon.  B.  F.  Childress, 
Thos.  E.  Matson,  Jas.  M.  Martin,  J.  C.  Campbell,  H.  C. 
Chandler,  J.  W.  Cox,  C.  W.  Marsh,  L.  W.  Wood,  J.  A. 
Mathes,  H.  W.  Hargraves,  J.  F.  Crumley,  M.  N.  Johnson, 
and  W.  W.  Kirkpatrick. 

Congressman  Alfred  A.  Taylor  presented  the  President, 
who  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — The  office  of  President  of  the  United  States 
is  one  of  very  high  honor  and  is  also  one  of  very  high  responsi- 
bility. No  man  having  conscientiously  at  heart  the  good  of  the 
whole  people,  whose  interests  are,  under  the  law,  in  some  degree 
committed  to  his  care,  can  fail  to  feel  a  most  oppressive  sense  of 
inadequacy  when  he  comes  to  the  discharge  of  these  high  functions. 

Elected  under  a  system  of  government  which  gives  to  the  major- 
ity of  our  people  who  have  expressed  their  wishes  through  consti- 
tutional methods  the  right  to  choose  their  public  servants,  when 
he  has  taken  the  oath  that  inducts  him  into  office  he  becomes  the 
servant  of  all  the  people,  and  while  he  may  pursue  the  advocacy  of 
those  measures  to  which  the  people  have  given  their  approval  by 
his  choice,  he  should  always  act  and  speak  with  a  reserve  and  a 
respect  for  the  opinion  of  others  that  shall  not  alienate  from  him 
the  good- will  of  his  fellow -citizens,  without  regard  to  political 
belief. 

I  shall  not  speak  of  what  has  been  done,  but  I  have  a  supreme 
regard  for  the  honor  of  the  Nation,  a  profound  respect  for  the  Con- 
stitution, and  a  most  sincere  desire  to  meet  the  just  expectations 


294  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  my  fellow- citizens.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the 
good  of  any  class  can  be  permanently  and  largely  attained  except 
upon  lines  which  promote  the  good  of  all  our  people. 

I  rejoice  in  the  Union  of  the  States.  I  rejoice  to  stand  here  in 
East  Tennessee  among  a  people  who  so  conspicuously  and  at  such 
sacrifice  during  the  hour  of  the  Nation's  peril  stood  by  the  flag  and 
adhered  to  their  convictions  of  public  duty  [cheers]  ;  and  I  am 
especially  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  those  who,  following  other 
views  of  duty,  took  sides  against  us  in  that  struggle,  without  di- 
vision in  voice  or  heart  to-day  praise  Almighty  God  that  He  pre- 
served us  one  Nation.  [Cheers.] 

There  is  no  man,  whatever  his  views  upon  the  questions  that 
then  divided  us,  but,  in  view  of  the  marvellous  benefits  which  are 
disseminating  themselves  over  these  States,  must  also  bless  God 
to-day  that  slavery  no  longer  exists  and  that  the  Union  of  free 
States  is  indissoluble.  [Cheers.] 

What  is  it  that  has  stirred  the  public  of  this  great  region,  that 
has  kindled  these  furnace  fires,  that  has  converted  these  retired 
and  isolated  farms  upon  which  you  and  your  ancestors  dwelt  into 
centres  of  trade  and  mechanical  pursuits,  bringing  a  market  close 
to  the  door  of  the  farmer  and  bringing  prosperity  into  every  home? 
It  is  that  we  have  no  line  of  division  between  the  States ;  it  is 
that  these  impulses  of  freedom  and  enterprise,  once  limited  in 
their  operations,  are  now  common  in  all  the  States.  We  have  a 
common  heritage.  The  Confederate  soldier  has  a  full,  honorable, 
and  ungrudged  participation  in  all  the  benefits  of  a  great  and  just 
Government.  [Cheers.  ] 

I  do  not  doubt  to-day  that  these  would  be  among  the  readiest  of 
our  population  to  follow  the  old  flag  if  it  should  be  assailed  from 
any  quarter.  [Cheers.] 

Now,  my  fellow-countrymen,  I  can  pause  but  a  moment  with 
you.  It  does  me  good  to  look  into  your  faces,  to  receive  these 
evidences  of  your  good-will.  I  hope  I  majr  have  guidance  and 
courage  in  such  time  as  remains  to  me  in  public  life  conscien- 
tiously to  serve  the  public  good  and  the  common  glory  of  our 
beloved  country.  [Great  cheering.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  295 

JONESBORO,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL   14. 

AT  Jonesboro,  the  oldest  city  in  Tennessee  and  the  an- 
cient capital  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  the  President  was 
the  recipient  of  a  most  cordial  welcome.  All  the  residents 
of  the  town  seemed  to  be  present.  Among  the  prominent 
citizens  who  participated  in  the  greeting  were :  Mayor  I. 
E.  Reeves,  Judge  Newton  Hacker,  R.  M.  May,  Col.  T. 
H.  Reeves,  A.  J.  Patterson,  S.  H.  Anderson,  Capt.  A.  S. 
Deaderick,  James  H.  Epps,  Jacob  Leab,  S.  H.  L.  Cooper, 
Judge  A.  J.  Brown,  John  D.  Cox,  E.  H.  West,  J.  A.  Feb- 
uary,  T.  B.  Hacker,  R.  N".  Dosser,  Capt.  Geo.  McPherson, 
and  Chancellor  J.  P.  Smith. 

General  Harrison's  allusion  to  John  Sevier  and  his  strug- 
gle to  establish  the  State  of  Franklin  elicited  hearty  ap- 
plause. He  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — We  tarry  but  a  moment  at  this  ancient  and 
interesting  city,  whose  story  goes  back,  I  think,  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  State  of  Franklin,  of  which  perhaps  not  all  of  you, 
certainly  not  these  little  ones,  ever  heard,  which  John  Sevier 
attempted  to  set  up  as  an  independent  commonwealth. 

But  yet  it  is  not  of  antiquity  that  I  desire  to  speak,  for  ancient 
history  is  not  of*  the  greatest  interest  to  you  now.  The  Scripture 
speaks,  I  think — my  Postmaster-General  is  near,  and  if  I  fall  into 
error  will  correct  me  [laughter] — of  a  time  when  the  old  things 
shall  pass  away  and  all  things  shall  become  new.  Tennessee  is 
realizing  that  beatitude ;  the  old  things,  the  old  way  of  doing 
things,  the  stiff  clay  and  steep  mountain  roads  have  passed  away 
and  the  steam-car  has  come. 

The  old  times  of  isolation  in  these  valleys,  when  these  pioneers, 
some  of  whom  I  see,  made  their  frontier  homes,  have  passed  away, 
and  influences  from  the  outside  have  come ;  life  has  been  made 
easier  to  men  and  easier  to  the  toiling  women  who  used  to  carry 
the  water  from  the  spring  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  in  a  piggin, 
but  who  now  by  modern  appliances  have  it  brought  into  the 
kitchen. 

You  have  come  to  know  now  that  not  only  the  surface  of  the  soil 
has  wealth  in  it,  but  that  under  the  surface  there  are  vast  sources 
of  wealth  to  gladden  the  homes  of  your  people  and  to  bring  with 
new  industries  a  thrifty  population.  But  of  all  these  old  things 


296  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

that  have  passed  away  and  the  new  ones  that  have  come,  I  am 
sure  you  are  exultantly  glad  in  this  region,  where  there  was  so 
much  martyrdom  for  the  flag,  so  much  exile,  so  much  suffering, 
that  the  one  Union,  the  one  Constitution,  and  the  one  flag  might 
be  preserved,  to  know  that  those  old  strifes  have  passed  away,  and 
that  a  period  of  fraternity  has  come  when  all  men  are  for  the  flag 
and  all  for  the  Constitution,  when  it  has  been  forever  put  out  of 
the  minds  of  all  people  that  this  Union  can  be  dissolved  or  this 
Constitution  overthrown.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

On  all  these  new  things  I  congratulate  the  citizens  of  Tennessee. 
Turn  your  faces  to  the  morning,  for  the  sun  is  lightening  the  hill- 
tops ;  there  is  coming  to  our  country  a  great  growth,  an  extraor- 
dinary development,  and  you  are  to  be  full  participants  in  it  all. 
While  other  nations  of  the  world  have  reached  a  climax  in  their 
home  development,  and  are  struggling  to  parcel  out  remote  regions 
of  the  earth  that  their  commerce  may  be  extended,  we  have  here 
prodigious  resources  that  are  yet  to  be  touched  by  the  finger  of 
development,  and  we  have  the  power,  if  we  will,  to  put  our  flag 
again  on  the  sea  and  to  share  in  the  world's  commerce.  [Cheers.] 


GREENVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  14. 

THE  home  of  President  Andrew  Johnson — Greenville, 
Tenn. — gave  the  President  a  cordial  greeting  through  its 
welcoming  committee,  consisting  of  Mayor  John  M.  Brab- 
son,  Aldermen  A.  1ST.  Shown,  J.  D.  Britton,  E.  C.  Miller, 
and  W.H.Williams;  also  Burnside  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  W. 
T.  Mitchell  Commander ;  A.  J.  Frazier,  and  the  children 
of  the  public  schools,  in  charge  of  Principal  L.  McWhisler. 

President  Harrison  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — The  arrangements  for  our  journey  will  not 
permit  me  to  tarry  with  you  long.  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for 
this  cordial  demonstration.  I  rejoice  to  see  in  the  hands  of  the 
children  here  that  banner  of  glory  which  is  the  symbol  of  our 
greatness  and  the  promise  of  our  security. 

I  am  glad  that  by  the  common  consent  of  all  our  people,  without 
any  regard  to  past  differences,  we  have  once  and  forever  struck 
hands  upon  the  proposition  that  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Bay  of  California,  there  shall  be  one  flag 
and  one  Constitution.  [Great  cheering.]  The  story  that  it  brings 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  297 

to  us  from  the  time  of  its  adoption  as  our  national  emblem  is  one 
in  which  we  may  all  find  instruction  and  inspiration.  It  is  the 
flag  of  the  free. 

It  symbolizes  a  government  most  aptly  expressed  by  the  greatest 
statesman  of  the  people,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  be  "a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people" — a  government 
that  spreads  a  sky  of  hope  above  the  head  of  every  child,  that  lias 
abolished  all  class  distinctions,  and  has  opened  all  places  of  emi- 
nence and  usefulness  in  the  state  and  in  commerce  to  the  ambitious 
and  energetic  young  man. 

This  city  has  given  to  the  country  a  conspicuous  illustration  in 
your  distinguished  former  fellow- citizen,  Andrew  Johnson,  of  what 
free  institutions  may  do,  and  what  an  aspiring  young  man  may 
do  against  all  adverse  conditions  in  life.  To  every  one  perfect 
freedom  is  guaranteed  within  the  limits  of  due  respect  to  the  rights 
of  others.  Thanking  you  again  for  this  presence  and  friendly 
greeting,  I  bid  you  good-by. 


MORRISTOWN,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  14. 

AT  Morristown  several  thousand  citizens  and  residents 
of  Hamblen,  Cocke,  Grainger,  and  Jefferson  counties  as- 
sembled to  greet  the  President.  The  Reception  Commit- 
tee was  Mayor  W.  S.  Dickson,  R.  L.  Gaut,  H.  Williams, 
W.  H.  Maze,  A.  S.  Jenkins,  and  James  A.  Goddard.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  President's  speech  an  old  grizzled 
veteran  stepped  upon  the  platform,  and  reaching  out  his 
hand  said :  "  Mr.  President,  I  was  in  that  Atlanta  campaign, 
on  the  other  side,  and  helped  to  keep  you  back,  but  now 
the  war  is  over  I'm  proud  to  take  your  hand."  The  Presi- 
dent showed  great  pleasure  at  this  greeting,  and  held  the 
old  soldier's  hand  several  minutes,  the  spectators  mean- 
while cheering  lustily.  A  large  number  of  ex- Confederates 
witnessed  this  incident. 

President  Harrison's  speech  on  the  occasion  was  as 
follows : 

My  Fellow  citizens — It  will  not  be  possible  for  me  to  speak  to  you 
for  more  than  a  moment,  and  yet  I  cannot  refuse,  in  justice  to  my 


298  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

own  feelings,  to  express  my  deep  appreciation  of  your  cordial 
reception.  I  visit  to-day  for  the  first  time  East  Tennessee,  but  it 
is  a  region  in  which  I  have  always  felt  a  profound  interest  and  for 
whose  people  I  have  always  entertained  a  most  sincere  respect. 

It  seems  to  be  true  in  the  history  of  man  that  those  who  are 
called  to  dwell  among  mountain  peaks,  in  regions  where  the  con- 
vulsions of  nature  have  lifted  the  rocks  toward  the  sky,  have 
always  been  characterized  by  a  personal  independence  of  character, 
by  a  devotion  to  liberty,  and  by  courage  in  defence  of  their  rights 
and  their  homes.  The  legends  that  cluster  about  the  mountain 
peaks  of  Scotland  and  the  patriotic  devotion  that  makes  memorable 
the  passes  of  Switzerland  have  been  repeated  in  the  mountains  of 
East  Tennessee. 

In  those  periods  of  great  struggles;  when  communications  were 
difficult  and  often  interrupted,  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Indiana 
wTent  out  to  the  beleaguered  friends  of  the  Union  beyond  the  Cum- 
berland Gap.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  it  is  no  longer  difficult  to 
reach  you  for  succor  or  for  friendly  social  intercourse,  for  travel 
has  been  quickened  arid  made  easy.  Some  one  mentioned  just  now 
that  it  was  only  four  hours  and  a  half  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta. 
That  is  not  my  recollection  [laughter]  ;  I  think  we  spent  as  many 
months  making  that  trip.  [Laughter.] 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  now,  by  the  consent  of  all  your  people, 
without  regard  to  the  differences  that  separated  you  then,  your 
highways  are  open  to  all  of  us,  without  prejudice  ;  that  your  hearts 
are  true  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  and  that  the  high  sense 
of  public  duty  which  then  characterized  you  still  abides  among 
your  people.  May  your  valleys  be  always  full  of  prosperity,  your 
homes  the  abode  of  affection  and  love,  and  of  all  that  makes  the 
American  home  the  best  of  all  homes  and  the  sure  nursery  of  good 
citizens.  [Cheers.] 


KNOXVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  14. 

ON  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  the  journey  Knoxville 
was  reached.  The  distinguished  travellers  were  welcomed 
by  a  citizens'  committee,  composed  of  William  Rule,  Chair- 
man ;  Col.  E.  J.  Sanford,  Hon.  J.  C.  J.  Williams,  Hon.  L. 
C.  Houk,  Col.  J.  Vandeventer,  M.  L.  Ross,  John  T.  Hearn, 
Alex.  Summers,  Wm.  M.  Baxter,  F.  A.  Moses,  John  W. 
Conner,  B.  R.  Strong,  Hon.  Peter  Kern,  Capt.  W-  P.  Cham- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  209 

berlain,  Col.  J.  B.  Minnis,  W.  H.  Simmonds,  John  L. 
Hudiburg,  Capt.  A.  J.  Albers,  Hon.  J.  W.  Caldwell,  and 
W.  P.  Smith.  After  visiting  Fort  Sanders  and  viewing 
the  battle-field  by  twilight  the  party  returned  to  the  city, 
where  a  vast  audience  was  assembled. 

Col.  William  A.  Henderson  introduced  the  President, 
who  spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow-citizens — It  gives  me  pleasure  to  visit  this  historical 
city — a  city  that  has  given  to  the  country  many  men  who  have 
been  eminent  in  its  councils  and  brought  to  the  Nation  they  served 
and  to  the  people  who  called  them  into  the  public  service  great 
honor.  I  am  glad  to  visit  East  Tennessee,  the  scene  of  that  early 
immigration  and  of  those  early  struggles  of  men  who,  for  vigor  of 
intellect,  strength  of  heart,  and  devotion  to  republican  principles, 
were  among  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  early  pioneers  of  the 
West  and  Southwest. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  that  deep  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union  which  manifested  itself  in  the  early  contributions  of  Ten- 
nessee to  the  armies  that  went  to  the  defence  of  the  homes  of  the 
Northwest  abides  still  in  these  valleys  and  crowns  with  its  glory 
and  lustre  every  hill -top  of  the  Alleghanies.  You  are  feeling  now 
a  material  development  that  is  interesting  and  pleasing  to  all  your 
fellow-citizens  of  the  States. 

I  beg  to  say  to  you  that  whoever  supposes  that  there  is  anywhere 
in  the  Northern  States  any  jealousy  of  this  great  material  progress 
which  the  South  is  making  wholly  misconceives  the  friendly  heart 
of  the  people  of  the  North.  It  is  my  wish,  as  I  am  sure  it  is  the 
wish  of  all  with  whom  I  associate  in  political  life,  that  the  streams 
of  prosperity  in  the  South  may  run  bank-full ;  that  in  everything 
that  promotes  the  prosperity  of  the  State,  the  security  and  comfort 
of  the  community,  and  the  happiness  of  the  individual  home,  your 
blessings  may  be  full  and  unstinted. 

We  live  in  a  Government  of  law.  The  compact  of  our  organiza- 
tion is  that  a  majority  of  our  people,  taking  those  methods  which 
are  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  and  law,  shall  determine  our 
public  policies  and  choose  our  rulers.  It  is  our  solemn  compact ; 
it  cannot  safely  be  broken.  We  may  safely  differ  about  policies ; 
we  may  safely  divide  upon  the  question  as  to  what  shall  be  the 
law ;  but  when  the  law  is  once  enacted  no  community  can  safely 
divide  on  the  question  of  implicit  obedience  to  the  law. 

It  is  the  one  rule  of  conduct  for  us  all.     I  may  not  choose  as 


300  HAREISON'S  SPEECHES. 

President  what  laws  I  will  enforce,  and  the  citizen  may  not 
choose  what  laws  he  will  obey.  Upon  this  broad  principle  our 
institutions  rest.  If  we  save  it,  all  the  agitations  and  tumults  of 
our  campaigns,  exciting  though  they  may  be,  will  be  harmless  to 
move  our  Government  from  its  safe  and  abiding  foundation. 

If  we  abandon  it,  all  is  gone.  Therefore,  my  appeal  everywhere 
is  to  hold  the  law  in  veneration  and  reverence.  We  have  no  other 
king ,  public  officers  are  your  servants ;  but  in  the  august  and 
majestic  presence  of  the  law  we  all  uncover  and  bow  the  knee. 

May  every  prosperity  attend  you.  May  this  ground,  made  mem- 
orable by  one  of  the  most  gallant  assaults  and  by  one  of  the  most 
successful  defences  in  the  story  of  the  war,  never  again  be  stained 
by  blood  ;  but  may  our  people,  in  one  common  love  of  one  flag  and 
one  Constitution,  in  a  common  and  pervading  fealty  to  the  great 
principles  of  our  Government,  go  on  to  achieve  material  wealth, 
and  in  social  development,  in  intelligence,  in  piety,  in  everything 
that  makes  a  nation  great  and  a  people  happy,  secure  all  the  Lord 
has  in  His  mind  for  a  Nation  that  He  has  so  conspicuously  blessed. 
[Great  and  prolonged  cheering.] 


CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  15. 

CHATTANOOGA  was  reached  Wednesday  morning  at  8 : 30 
o'clock.  The  President  was  received  with  marked  cor- 
diality and  enthusiasm  by  the  several  thousand  citizens  as- 
sembled at  the  station.  At  this  point  the  party  was  joined 
by  the  President's  younger  brother,  Mr.  Carter  B.  Harrison, 
and  his  wife,  of  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.  The  following 
prominent  citizens  comprised  the  committee  that  received 
the  President  •  Hon.  J.  B.  Merriam,  Mayor  of  Chattanoo- 
ga; Hon.  H.  Clay  Evans,  Judge  David  M.  Key,  H.  S. 
Chamberlain,  D.  J.  O'Connell,  Henophen  Wheeler,  John 
Crimmins,  Maj.  J.  F.  Shipp,  Col.  Tomlinson  Fort,  John 
T.  Wilder,  Adolph  S.  Ochs,  John  B.  Nicklin,  L.  G. 
Walker,  A.  J.  Gahagan,  C.  E.  James,  F.  G.  Montague,  H. 
M.  Wiltse,  John  W.  Stone,  J.  B.  Pound,  E.  W.  Mattson, 
and  Judge  Whiteside. 

The  committee  escorted  the  distinguished  guests  to  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  301 

summit  of  Lookout  Mountain.  At  the  Lookout  Inn  Pres- 
ident Harrison  pointed  out  to  his  immediate  companions 
the  spot  where  he  was  encamped  for  a  time  during  the  war. 
From  the  mountain  the  party  was  driven  about  the  city, 
which  was  profusely  decorated.  All  the  school  children  in 
the  city  stood  in  front  of  their  respective  schools  and  waved 
flags  and  shouted  as  the  President  and  Mrs.  Harrison 
drove  by.  Assembled  around  the  platform  where  the  gen- 
eral reception  was  held  were  many  thousand  people. 

Ex-Congressman  Evans,  amid  deafening  cheers,  intro- 
duced the  President,  who  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  have  greatly  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  Chattanooga  again.  I  saw  it  last  as  the  camp  of  a  great 
army.  Its  only  industries  were  military,  its  stores  were  munitions 
of  war,  its  pleasant  hill-tops  were  torn  with  rifle-pits,  its  civic 
population  the  attendants  of  an  army  campaign.  I  see  it  to-day  a 
great  city,  a  prosperous  commercial  centre.  I  see  these  hill  tops, 
then  bristling  with  guns,  crowned  with  happy  homes ;  I  see  these 
streets,  through  which  the  worn  veterans  of  many  campaigns  then 
marched,  made  glad  with  the  presence  of  happy  children.  Every- 
thing is  changed. 

The  wand  of  an  enchanter  has  touched  these  hills,  and  old  Look- 
out, that  frowned  over  the  valleys  from  which  the  plough  had  been 
withdrawn,  now  looks  upon  the  peaceful  industries  of  countiy  life. 
All  things  are  changed,  except  that  the  flag  that  then  floated  over 
Chattanooga  floats  here  still.  [Cheers.]  It  has  passed  from  the 
hand  of  the  veterans,  who  bore  it  to  victory  in  battle,  into  the 
hands  of  the  children,  who  lift  it  as  an  emblem  of  peace.  [Cheers.  ] 
Then  Chattanooga  was  war's  gateway  to  the  South  ;  now  it  is  the 
gateway  of  peace,  commerce,  and  prosperity.  [Cheers.  ] 

There  have  been  two  conquests — one  with  arms,  the  other  with 
the  gentle  influences  of  peace— and  the  last  is  greater  than  the  first. 
[Cheers.]  The  first  is  only  great  as  it  made  way  for  that  which 
followed ;  and  now,  one  again  in  our  devotion  to  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  one  again  in  the  determination  that  the  question  of 
the  severance  of  the  federal  relations  of  these  States  shall  never 
again  be  raised,  we  have  started  together  upon  a  career  of  pros- 
perity and  development  that  has  as  yet  given  only  the  signs  of 
what  is  to  come. 

I  congratulate  Tennessee,  I  congratulate  this  prosperous  city,  I 


302  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

congratulate  all  those  who  through  this  gateway  give  and  receive 
the  interchanges  of  friendly  commerce,  that  there  is  being  wrought 
throughout  our  country  a  unification  by  commerce,  a  unification 
by  similarity  of  institutions  and  habits,  that  shall  in  time  erase 
every  vestige  of  difference,  and  shall  make  us,  not  only  in  con- 
templation of  the  law,  but  in  heart  and  sympathy,  one  people. 
[Cheers.  ] 

I  thank  you  for  your  cordial  greeting  to-day,  and  hope  for  the 
development  of  the  industries  of  our  country  and  for  the  settling 
of  our  institutions  upon  the  firm  base  of  a  respect  for  the  law.  In 
this  glad  springtime,  while  the  gardens  are  full  of  blossoms  and 
the  fields  give  promise  of  another  harvest,  and  your  homes  are  full 
of  happy  children,  let  us  thank  God  for  what  He  has  wrought  for 
us  as  a  people,  and,  each  in  our  place,  resolutely  maintain  the 
great  idea  upon  which  everything  is  bnilded — the  rule  of  the 
majority,  constitutionally  expressed,  and  the  absolute  equality  of 
all  men  before  the  law.  [Cheers.  ] 


CARTERSVILLE,  GEORGIA,  APRIL  15. 

THE  first  stop  after  crossing  the  Georgia  State  line  was 
Cartersville,  where  a  citizens'  committee,  headed  by  M. 
G.  Dobbins,  W.  H.  Howard,  and  Walter  Akerman,  re- 
ceived the  President,  who  in  response  to  repeated  calls 
said: 

My  Friends — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  coming  here  in 
this  shower  to  show  your  good-will.  I  can  only  assure  you  that  I 
entirely  reciprocate  your  good  feelings.  I  have  had  great  pleasure 
to-day  in  passing  over  some  parts  of  the  old  route  that  I  took  once 
before  under  very  different  and  distressing  circumstances,  to  find 
how  easy  it  is,  when  we  are  all  agreed,  to  travel  between  Chatta- 
nooga and  Atlanta.  I  am  glad  to  see  the  evidences  of  prosperity 
that  abound  through  your  country,  and  I  wish  you  in  all  your 
relations  every  human  good.  [Cheers.  ] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  303 


ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  APRIL  15. 

"What  War  has  ravaged  Commerce  can  bestow, 
And  he  returns  a  Friend  who  came  a  Foe. " 

THE  presidential  party  travelled  over  the  Western  and 
Atlantic  route  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  passing 
through  historic  battle-grounds  with  which  the  President 
and  other  members  of  his  party  were  once  familiar.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  actively  participated  in  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign and  held  the  chief  command  at  the  battle  of  Resaca. 
It  was  with  keen  interest,  therefore,  that  he  viewed  this 
memorable  field  in  company  with  Marshal  Ransdell,  who 
lost  an  arm  there.  Short  stops  were  made  at  the  battle-fields 
of  Chickamauga,  Tunnel  Hill,  Resaca,  Dug  Gap,  and  Ken- 
nesaw.  At  Marietta  the  President  was  met  by  a  committee 
from  the  city  government  of  Atlanta,  consisting  of  Mayor 
W.  A.  Hemphill,  Aldermen  Hutchison,  Woodward,  Rice, 
Shropshire,  and  Middlebrooks ;  Councilmen  Murph}r,  Hen- 
drix,  Lambert,  Holbrook,  Sawtell,  King,  Turner,  McBride, 
and  City  Clerk  Woodward.  These  officials  were  ac- 
companied by  a  special  committee  of  citizens  representing 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  veteran  associations, 
comprising  ex-Gov.  R.  B.  Bullock,  Gen.  J.  R.  Lewis,  Capt. 
John  Milledge,  Julius  L.  Brown,  S.  M.  Inman,  Hon.  J.  T. 
Glenn,  and  Hon.  W.  L.  Calhoun. 

A  vast  throng  greeted  the  President's  arrival.  Gov. 
William  J.  Northen  and  the  other  members  of  the  Recep- 
tion Committee  received  the  party.  Governor  Northen 
said :  "  I  am  glad  to  welcome  your  excellency  to  the 
State  of  Georgia.  You  will  find  among  us  a  loyal  and 
hospitable  people,  and  in  their  name  I  welcome  you  to  the 
State." 

Replying,  the  President  said  it  gave  him  great  pleasure 
to  visit  the  Empire  State  of  the  South,  the  wonderful  evi- 
dences of  the  prosperity  of  which  were  manifest  in  the  stir- 
ring city  of  Atlanta. 


304  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

In  the  evening  the  President  and  his  party  were  tendered 
a  reception  at  the  Capitol  by  Governor  JSTorthen  and  Mayor 
Hemphill,  assisted  by  Chief- Justice  Bleckley,  Judge  Sim- 
mons, Judge  Lumpkin,  Gen.  Phil.  Cook,  Comptroller- 
General  Wright,  Judge  Van  Epps,  and  the  following 
prominent  citizens :  E.  P.  Chamberlin,  J.  W.  Rankin,  G. 
T.  Dodd,  Judge  Hook,  R.  J.  Lowry,  J.  W.  English,  Hoke 
Smith,  Phil.  Breitenbucher,  J.  G.  Oglesby,  John  Silvey, 
Capt.  Harry  Jackson,  Jacob  Haas,  W.  L.  Peel,  B.  F.  Ab- 
bott, John  Fitten,  Joe  Hirsch,  George  Hillyer,  A.  A.  Mur- 
phy, P.  Romare,  J.  B.  Goodwin,  David  Wyly,  G.  H.  Tan- 
ner, Dr.  Henry  S.  Wilson,  J.  F.  Edwards,  M.  A.  Hardin, 
A.  J.  McBride,  John  J.  Doonan,  Hugh  Inman,  J.  H.  Moun- 
tain, M.  C.  Kiser,  E.  P.  Howell,  A.  E.  Buck,  Edgar 
Angier,  Col.  L.  M.  Terrell,  S.  A.  Darnell,  John  C.  Manly, 
T.  B.  Neal,  Walter  Johnson,  Major  Minis,  W.  R.  Brown, 
Col.  T.  P.  Westmoreland,  Albert  Cox,  Clarence  Knowles, 
H.  M.  Atkinson,  J.  C.  Kimball,  C.  A.  Collier,  Rhode  Hill, 
Howard  Van  Epps,  W.  H.  Venable,  G.  W.  Adair,  F.  T. 
Ryan,  L.  P.  Thomas,  H.  F,  Starke,  W.  A.  Wright,  Amos 
Fox,  R.  L.  Rodgers,  H.  C.  Divine,  W.  M.  Scott,  A.  B.  Car- 
rier, W.  B.  Miles,  T.  C.  Watson,  and  L.  B.  Nelson. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  reception  the  President,  accom- 
panied by  Mayor  Hemphill,  Hon.  A.  L.  Kontz,  and  Super- 
intendent Slaton,  visited  the  night  school,  where  the  boys 
gave  him  an  enthusiastic  welcome  and  called  for  a  speech. 

The  President  said : 

I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  to-night.  Having  but  a  few  minutes 
to  spare  I  would  offer  a  few  words  of  encouragement  to  you.  Most, 
if  not  all,  of  you  are  here  at  night  because  your  circumstances  are 
such  that  the  day  must  be  given  to  toil.  The  day  is  your  earning 
period.  The  night  must,  therefore,  be  set  apart  for  study.  I  am 
glad  to  see  that  so  many  find  it  in  your  hearts  to  be  here  in  this 
school ;  it  is  a  very  hopeful  sign.  I  think  it  has  in  it  the  promise 
that  you  will  each  become  a  useful  citizen  in  this  country.  Pluck 
and  energy  are  two  essential  elements.  A  boy  wants  to  be  some- 
thing. With  pluck  and  energy  success  is  assured.  There  is  a 
day  of  hope  above  every  one  of  you. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  305 

I  bid  you  good  cheer  and  would  offer  encouragement  to  every 
one  of  you,  and  I  know  every  one  of  you  may  be  useful  and  hon- 
orable citizens  in  this  community,  whose  officers  have  taken  the 
interest  to  organize  this  school  for  your  benefit,  I  very  sincerely 
and  earnestly  wish  you  God -speed.  Stick  to  your  studies  and 
don't  neglect  to  acquire  a  needful  education,  and  you  may  one  day 
occupy  the  positions  of  honor  which  are  held  by  those  to-day  in 
charge  of  the  affairs  of  your  city. 


ATLANTA,  APRIL  16. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  16th  the  President's  party 
bade  adieu  to  Atlanta.  More  than  10,000  people  were 
present.  Mayor  Hemphill  invited  the  President  to  the 
rear  platform  of  the  train  and  presented  him  to  the  assem- 
blage. In  response  to  their  cheers  he  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  desire,  in  parting  from  you,  to  give  public 
expression  of  my  satisfaction  and  enjoyment  in  my  brief  visit  to 
Atlanta.  I  saw  this  city  once  under  circumstances  of  a  very  unfa- 
vorable character.  I  did  not  think  I  would  like  it,  although  we 
\vere  making  great  efforts  to  get  it.  [Laughter.  ]  I  am  glad  after 
all  these  years  to  see  the  great  prosperity  and  development  that  has 
come  to  you.  I  think  I  am  able  to  understand  some  of  the  influ- 
ences that  are  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  look  into 
the  faces  of  a  community  that,  whatever  their  differences  may 
have  been,  however  they  viewed  the  question  of  the  war  when  it 
was  upon  us,  can  have  but  one  thought  as  to  what  was  best.  We 
can  all  say  with  the  Confederate  soldier  who  carried  a  gun  for 
what  seemed  to  him  to  be  right,  that  God  knew  better  than  any  of 
us  what  was  best  for  the  country  and  for  the  world. 

You  are  thankful  for  what  He  has  wrought  and  chiefly  for  eman- 
cipation. It  has  opened  up  to  diversified  industries  these  States 
that  were  otherwise  exclusively  agricultural,  and  made  it  possible 
for  you  not  only  to  raise  cotton,  but  to  spin  and  weave  it,  and  has 
made  Georgia  such  a  State  as  it  could  not  have  been  under  the  old 
conditions.  I  am  sure  we  have  many  common  purposes,  and  as 
God  shall  give  us  power  to  see  truth  and  right,  let  us  do  our  duty, 
and,  while  exacting  all  our  own  rights,  let  us  bravely  and  gen- 
erously give  every  other  man  his  equal  rights  before  the  law. 
[Cheers.  ] 

Thanking  you   for  your  reception,   which  has  been   warm  and 
20 


306  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

hospitable,  I  go  from  you  very  grateful  for  your  kindness  and  very 
full  of  hope  for  your  future. 

I  cannot  wish  more  than  that  those  enterprising  land-owners 
whose  work  in  grading  and  laying  new  additions  I  saw  yesterday 
will  realize  all  their  hopes.  I  am  very  sure  if  that  is  done  Atlanta 
will  not  long  be  rated  the  second  city  of  the  South.  [Cheers.] 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  President's  address  there  were 
many  calls  for  Mr.  Wanamaker.  These  finally  brought 
the  Postmaster-General  to  the  platform,  who  said : 

That  man  is  unfortunate  who  is  called  on  to  speak  after  a  Presi- 
dent. But  at  such  a  moment  as  this,  parting  from  people  who  in 
a  single  night  have  shown  so  much  kindness  and  good-fellowship, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  return  at  least  our  grateful  thanks  for  your 
most  generous  welcome.  Of  all  objects  in  your  city  I  have  looked 
with  most  interest  upon  the  house  where  a  great  light  had  gone 
out,  and  felt  again  the  common  sorrow  in  the  absence  of  Hemy 
Grady,  a  man  whose  life  and  influences  were  larger  than  Atlanta. 
The  words  he  spoke  and  the  principles  he  stood  for  cannot  be  for- 
gotten. If  we  can  but  learn  to  know  each  other  and  understand 
each  other  there  will  be  fewer  differences  than  might  be  supposed. 
By  more  frequent  intercourse  and  a  fairer  consideration  of  each 
other  we  should  rise  to  a  higher  level  of  happiness.  I  wish  we  had 
come  sooner  and  could  stay  longer.  [Cheers.] 


TALLAPOOSA,  GEORGIA,  APRIL  16. 

THE  city  of  Tallapoosa  was  bedecked  with  flags  and 
bunting  in  honor  of  the  distinguished  visitors,  and  gave 
the  President  a  cordial  reception.  Mayor  A.  J.  Head  and 
the  following  representative  citizens  were  among  those 
who  greeted  the  Chief  Executive:  James  H.  Rineard, 
Walker  Brock,  U.  G.  Brock,  J.  A.  Head,  R.  M.  Strickland, 
J.  C.  Parker,  W.  T.  King,  R.  G.  Bently,  T.  J.  Barrett,  J. 
T.  Tuggle,  R.  J.  McBride,  G.  W.  Bullard,  C.  Tallafario,  J. 
A.  Burns,  J.  R.  Knapp,  C.  W.  Fox,  M.  C.  Reeve,  M.  Mun- 
son,  W.  W.  Summerlin,  S.  J.  Cason,  J.  H.  Davis,  S.  White, 
A.  Hass,  T.  L.  Dougherty,  G.  A.  Stickney,  N.  L.  Hutchens, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  307 

O.  F.  Sampson,  H.  Martin,  M.  C.  Haiston,  G.  W.  Tumlin, 
and  J.  C.  Murrey. 

Responding  to  the  welcoming  cheers  the  President  ad- 
dressed the  assembly  as  follows : 

My  Fellow- citizens — This  large  assemblage  of  people  from  this 
new  and  energetic  city  is  very  pleasant,  and  I  thank  you  for  the 
welcome  that  it  implies.  All  of  these  evidences  of  extending 
industry  are  extremely  pleasing  to  me  as  I  observe  them.  They 
furnish  employment  to  men ;  they  imply  comfortable  homes,  con- 
tented families,  a  safe  social  organization,  and  are  the  strength  of 
the  Nation. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  these  enterprises  that  are  taking  the  ores 
from  the  earth  and  adapting  them  to  the  uses  of  civilization  have 
not  been  started  here  unaccompanied  by  that  more  important  work 
—the  work  of  gathering  the  children  into  the  schools  and  instruct- 
ing them,  that  they  in  their  turn  may  be  useful  men  and  women. 
[Applause.]  I  am  glad  to  greet  these  little  ones  this  morning;  it 
is  a  cheerful  sight.  We  are  soon  to  lay  down  the  work  of  life  and 
the  responsibilities  of  citizenship ,  these  mothers  are  soon  to  quit 
the  ever-recurring  and  never-ending  work  of  the  home  and  give  it 
into  new  hands. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  that  these  little  ones  be  trained 
in  mind  and  taught  the  fear  of  God  and  a  benevolent  regard  for 
their  fellow- men,  in  order  that  their  lives  and  social  relations  may 
be  peaceful  and  happy.  We  are  citizens  of  one  country,  having 
one  flag  and  one  destiny.  We  are  starting  upon  a  new  era  of 
development,  and  1  hope  this  development  is  to  keep  pace  and  to 
be  the  promoting  cause  of  a  very  perfect  unification  of  our  people. 
[Cheers.  ] 

We  have  a  Government  whose  principles  are  very  simple  and 
very  popular.  The  whole  theory  of  our  institutions  is  that,  pursu- 
ing those  election  methods  which  we  have  prescribed  under  the 
Constitution,  every  man  shall  exercise  freely  the  right  that  the 
suffrage  law  confides  to  him,  and  that  the  majority,  if  it  has 
expressed  its  will,  shall  conclude  the  issue  for  us  all.  There  is  no 
other  foundation.  This  was  the  enduring  base  upon  which  the 
fathers  of  our  country  placed  our  institutions.  Let  us  always  keep 
them  there.  Let  us  press  the  debate  in  our  campaigns  as  to  what 
the  law  should  be;  but  let  us  keep  faith  and  submit  with  the  rev- 
erence and  respect  which  are  due  to  tlhe  law  when  once  lawfully 
enacted.  [Applause.] 

The  development  which  is  coming  to  you  in  these  regions  of  the 


308  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

South  is  marvellous.  In  ten  years  you  increased  your  production 
of  iron  about  300  per  cent.— nearly  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  tons 
— and  you  have  only  begun  to  open  these  mines  and  to  put  these 
ores  to  the  process  of  reduction.  Now,  I  want  to  leave  this  thought 
with  you :  In  the  old  plantations  of  the  South  you  got  everything 
from  somewhere  else  ;  why  not  make  it  all  yourselves  ?  [Cheers.  ] 


ANNISTON,  ALABAMA,  APRIL  16. 

MANY  thousands  greeted  the  President  on  his  arrival  at 
Anniston.  The  Reception  Committee  consisted  of  Mayor 
James  Noble,  J.  W.  Lapsley,  H.  W.  Bailey,  T.  G.  Garrett, 
B.  F.  Cassady,  John  J.  Mickle,  C.  H.  Camfield,  J.  J.  Wil- 
lett,  J.  C.  Sproull,  R.  H.  Cobb,  I.  Finch,  and  Alex.  S. 
Thweatt.  The  committee  appointed  by  the  Alabama  State 
Sunday- School  Association,  then  in  session,  was :  Joseph 
Hardie,  Geo.  B.  Eager,  P.  P.  Winn,  M.  J.  Greene,  and  C. 
W.  O'Hare.  On  the  part  of  the  colored  citizens  the  Com- 
mittee of  Reception  was :  Rev.  W.  H.  McAlpine,  Wm.  J. 
Stevens,  S.  E.  Moses,  Rev.  J.  F.  Fitspatrick,  and  Rev. 
Jas.  W.  Brown.  Daniel  Tyler  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  H.  Rosen- 
baum,  Commander,  G.  B.  Randolph  acting  Adjutant,  also 
participated.  The  Hon.  John  M.  McKleroy  delivered  the 
address  of  welcome,  followed  by  Wm.  J.  Stevens  in  behalf 
of  the  colored  people. 

President  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

Fellow -citizens — I  very  much  regret  that  I  am  able  to  make  so 
little  return  to  you  for  this  cordial  manifestation  of  your  respect 
and  friendship  ;  and  yet,  even  in  these  few  moments  which  I  am 
able  to  spend  with  you,  I  hope  I  shall  gather  and  possibly  be  able 
to  impart  some  impulse  that  may  be  mutually  beneficial.  I  am 
glad  to  see  with  the  eye  that  of  which  I  have  kept  informed — the 
great  development  which  is  taking  place  in  the  mineral  regions 
of  the  Southern  States. 

I  remember,  as  a  boy,  resident  upon  one  of  the  great  tributaries 
of  the  Mississippi,  how  the  agricultural  products  of  those  States, 
the  corn  and  provisions  raised  upon  the  fertile  acres  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  valleys,  were  marketed  in  the  South.  The  old 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  309 

broad-horn  took  its  way  down  the  Mississippi,  stopping  at  the 
plantations  to  sell  the  provisions  upon  which  the  people  of  the 
South  were  largely  sustained.  The  South  was  then  essentially  a 
plantation  region,  producing  one  or  two  great  staples  that  found  a 
ready  market  in  the  world,  but  dependent  for  its  implements  of 
industry  and  domestic  utensils  upon  the  States  of  the  North 
Mississippi  Valley. 

I  am  glad  all  this  is  changed,  that  you  are  realizing  the  benefits 
of  diversified  agriculture,  and  that  the  production  upon  your  farms 
of  the  staples  which  you  once  bought  elsewhere  is  largely  increas- 
ing ;  and  I  am  glad  that  to  diversified  agriculture  you  have  also 
added  these  great  mechanical  pursuits  which  have  brought  into 
your  communities  artisans  and  laborers  who  take  from  the  adjacent 
farms  the  surplus  of  your  fertile  lands.  [Cheers.]  There  has  been 
received  in  the  South  since  the  war  not  less  than  $8, 000, 000, 000  for 
cotton  ,  and  while  I  rejoice  in  that,  I  am  glad  to  know  that  in  this 
generous  region  there  are  near  100, 000  acres  devoted  to  raising 
watermelons.  [Laughter.  ] 

No  farmer,  certainly  no  planter  in  the  old  time,  would  have  con- 
sented to  sell  watermelons.  You  are  learning  that  things  which 
were  small  and  despised  have  come  to  be  great  elements  in  your 
commerce.  Now  your  railroads  make  special  provision  for  the 
transportation  of  a  crop  which  brings  large  wrealth  to  your  people. 

I  mention  this  as  a  good  illustration  of  the  changing  conditions 
into  which  you  are  entering.  You  are  realizing  the  benefits  of 
home  markets  for  what  you  produce,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  unite 
with  me  in  those  efforts  which  we  ought  to  make,  not  only  to  fill 
our  own  markets  with  all  that  this  great  Nation  of  65,000,000  needs, 
but  to  reach  out  to  other  markets  and  enter  into  competition  with 
the  world  for  them.  [Cheers.]  This  we  shall  do,  and  with  all 
this  mechanical  and  commercial  development  we  shall  realize 
largely  that  condition  of  unification  of  heart  and  interest  to  which 
those  who  have  spoken  for  you  have  so  eloquently  alluded. 
[Cheers.] 

And  now,  wishing  that  the  expectations  of  all  who  are  interested 
in  this  stirring  young  city  may  be  realized,  that  all  your  industries 
may  be  active  and  profitable,  I  add  the  wish  that  those  gentler  and 
kindlier  agencies  of  the  school  and  church,  of  a  friendly  social  life, 
may  always  pervade  and  abide  with  you  as  a  community.  [Cheers.  ] 


310  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

BIRMINGHAM,  ALABAMA,  APRIL  16. 

LARGE  delegations  came  from  Mobile,  Selma,  Montgom- 
ery, Sheffield,  and  other  points  in  Alabama,  to  participate 
in  the  grand  ovation  tendered  President  Harrison  and  his 
party  at  Birmingham  on  April  1C.  Gov.  Thomas  G.  Jones 
and  the  following  members  of  his  staff  welcomed  the  pres- 
idential party  at  Henry ellen :  Adjt.-Gen.  Charles  B.  Jones, 
Col.  F.  L.  Pettus,  Col.  Eugene  Stolleriwerck,  Col.  M.  P.  Le 
Grand,  Col.  W.  W.  Quarles,  Col.  B.  L.  Holt,  Lieut.  James 
B.  Erwin,  and  J.  K.  Jackson,  Secretary  to  the  Governor. 
The  Governor's  party  was  accompanied  by  five  members 
from  the  Citizens'  Committee :  Col.  E.  T.  Taliaferro,  Rufus 
N".  Rhodes,  J.  W.  Hughes,  R.  L.  Houston,  and  C.  A.  John- 
ston. 

On  arrival  at  Birmingham,  in  the  afternoon,  the  Presi- 
dent was  greeted  by  an  enormous  gathering  and  formally 
welcomed  by  Mayor  A.  O.  Lane  at  the  head  of  the  follow- 
ing distinguished  committee:  H.  M.  Caldwell,  Joseph  F. 
Johnston,  B.  L.  Hibbard,  William  Youngblood,  W.  J. 
Cameron,  J.  A.  Van  Hoose,  R.  H.  Pearson,  E.  H.  Barron, 
M.  M.  Williams,  J.  O.  Wright,  James  Weatherly,  Chappell 
Cory,  Louis  Saks,  D.  D.  Smith,  J.  P.  Mudd,  Charles  M. 
Shelley,  Paul  Giacopazzi,  James  A.  Going,  Joe  Frank,  T. 
H.  Spencer,  P.  G.  Bowman,  J.  M.  Martin,  G.  W.  Hewitt, 
T.  T.  Hillman,  E.  Soloman,  F.  P.  O'Brien,  Lewis  M.  Par- 
sons, Robert  Jemison,  John  McQueen,  Geo.  L.  Morris,  B. 
Steiner,  Mack  Sloss,  J.  A.  Yeates,  J.  M.  Handley,  Fergus 
W.  McCarthy,  E.  V.  Gregory,  F.  H.  Armstrong,  Geo.  M. 
Morrow,  Thomas  Seddon,  E.  W.  Rucker,  W.  H.  Graves, 
Gus  Shillinger,  M.  T.  Porter,  Edwin  C.  Campbell,  Eugene 
F.  Enslen,  R.  L.  Thornton,  Charles  Whelan,  W.  S.  Brown, 
John  M.  Cartin,  Wm.  M.  Bethea,  I.  R.  Hochstadter,  John 
W.  Johnston,  Wm.  Vaughn,  Jas.  E.  Webb,  and  Robert 
Warnock.  George  A.  Ouster  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  commanded 
by  Ass't  Adjt.-Gen.  W.  J.  Pender,  escorted  the  President 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  311 

on  the  march  through  the  city.  The  following  officers  par- 
ticipated: W.  H.  Hunter,  Department  Commander;  F.  G. 
Sheppard,  Past  Department  Commander;  William  Sny- 
der,  Commander ;  A.  A.  Tyler,  Senior  Vice-Commander ; 
Henry  Asa  N.  Ballard,  Surgeon;  Edward  Birchenough, 
Assistant  Quartermaster-General;  A.  W.  Fulghum,  Past 
Commander;  and  John  Mackenzie,  Officer  of  the  Day. 

Both  the  Governor  and  the  Mayor  delivered  eloquent 
addresses  of  welcome,  to  which  President  Harrison  re- 
sponded as  follows : 

Governor  Jones,  Mr.  Mayor,  and  Fellow-citizens — The  noise  of 
your  industries  will  not  stay  itself,  I  fear,  sufficiently  to  enable  me 
to  make  myself  heard  by  many  in  this  immense  throng  that  has 
gathered  to  welcome  us.  I  judge  from  what  we  have  seen  as  we 
neared  your  station  that  we  have  here  at  Birmingham  the  largest 
and  most  enthusiastic  concourse  of  people  that  has  met  us  since  we 
left  the  national  capital.  [Great  and  prolonged  cheering.]  For 
all  this  I  am  deeply  grateful.  The  rapidity  with  which  we  must 
pursue  this  journey  will  not  allow  us  to  look  with  any  detail  into 
the  great  enterprises  which  cluster  about  your  city  ;  but  if  we  shall 
only  have  opportunity  to  see  for  a  moment  these  friendly  faces 
and  listen  to  these  friendly  words,  we  shall  carry  away  that  which 
will  be  invaluable,  and,  I  trust,  by  the  friendly  exchange  of  greet- 
ings, may  leave  something  to  you  that  is  worth  cherishing.  [Great 
cheering.  ]  I  have  read  of  the  marvellous  development  which,  in 
the  last  few  years,  has  been  stirring  the  solitude  of  these  southern 
mountains,  and  I  remember  that  not  many  years  after  the  war, 
when  I  had  resumed  my  law  practice  at  Indianapolis,  I  was  visited 
by  a  gentleman,  known,  I  expect,  to  all  of  you,  upon  some  profes- 
sional business.  He  came  to  pursue  a  collection  claim  against  a 
citizen  of  Indiana  ;  but  he  seemed  to  be  more  interested  in  talking 
about  Birmingham  than  anything  else.  [Laughter  and  cheers.] 
That  man  was  Colonel  Powell,  one  of  the  early  promoters  of  your 
city.  [Cheers.  ]  I  listened  to  his  story  of  the  marvellous  wealth 
of  iron  and  coal  that  was  stored  in  this  region ;  of  their  nearness 
to  each  other,  and  to  the  limestone  necessary  for  smelting ;  to  his 
calculations  as  to  the  cheapness  with  which  iron  could  be  produced 
here,  and  his  glowring  story  of  the  great  city  that  was  to  be  reared, 
with  a  good  deal  of  incredulity.  I  thought  he  was  a  visionary  ;  but 
I  have  regretted  ever  since  that  I  did  not  ask  him  to  pay  me  my 
fee  in  town  lots  in  Birmingham.  [Laughter  and  cheers.] 


312  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

My  countrymen,  we  thought  the  war  a  great  calamity,  and  so  It 
was.  The  destruction  of  life  and  of  property  was  sad  beyond 
expression  ;  and  yet  we  can  see  now  that  God  led  us  through  that 
Red  Sea  to  a  development  in  material  prosperity  and  to  a  fraternity 
that  was  not  otherwise  possible.  [Cheers.]  The  industries  that 
have  called  to  your  midst  so  many  toiling  men  are  always  and 
everywhere  the  concomitants  of  freedom.  Out  of  all  this  freedom 
from  the  incubus  of  slavery  the  South  has  found  a  new  industrial 
birth.  Once  almost  wholly  agricultural,  you  are  now  not  the  less 
fruitful  in  crops,  but  you  have  added  all  this.  [Cheers.]  You 
have  increased  your  production  of  cotton,  and  have  added  an  in- 
crease in  ten  years  of  nearly  300  per  cent,  in  the  production  of 
iron.  You  have  produced  three- fourths  of  the  cotton  crop  of  the 
world,  and  it  has  brought  you  since  the  war  about  $8, 000, 000, 000 
of  money  to  enrich  your  people.  But  as  yet  you  are  spinning  in 
the  South  only  8  per  cent,  of  it.  Why  not,  with  the  help  we  will 
give  you  in  New  England  and  the  North,  spin  it  all?  [Cheers.] 
Why  not  establish  here  cotton  mills  that  shall  send,  not  the  crude 
agricultural  product  to  other  markets,  but  the  manufactured  prod- 
uct? [Cheers.]  Why  not,  while  supplying  65,000,000  of  people, 
reach  out  and  take  a  part  we  have  not  had  in  the  commerce  of  the 
world  ?  [Cheers.  ]  I  believe  we  are  to  see  now  a  renaissance  in 
American  prosperity  and  in  the  up- building  again  of  our  Ameri- 
can merchant  marine.  [Cheers.]  I  believe  .that  these  Southern 
ports  that  so  favorably  look  out  with  invitations  to  the  States  of 
Central  and  South  America  shall  yet  see  our  fleets  carrying  the 
American  flag  and  the  products  of  Alabama  to  the  markets  of  South 
America.  [Great  cheering.] 

In  all  this  we  are  united ;  we  may  differ  as  to  method,  but  if 
you  will  permit  me  I  will  give  an  illustration  to  show  how  we 
have  been  dealing  with  this  shipping  question.  I  can  remember 
when  no  wholesale  merchant  ever  sent  a  drummer  into  the  field. 
He  said  to  his  customers,  "  Come  to  my  store  and  buy  ;"  but  com- 
petition increased  and  the  enterprising  merchant  started  out  men 
to  seek  customers ;  and  so  his  fellow-merchant  was  put  to  the 
choice  to  put  travelling  men  into  the  field  or  to  go  out  of  business. 
It  seems  to  me,  whatever  we  may  think  of  the  policy  of  aiding 
our  steamship  lines,  that  since  every  other  great  nation  does  it,  we 
must  do  it  or  stay  out  of  business,  for  we  have  pretty  much  gone 
out.  [Cheers.]  I  am  glad  to  reciprocate  with  the  very  fulness  of 
my  heart  every  fraternal  expression  that  has  fallen  from  the  lips  of 
these  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  me  in  your  behalf.  [Cheers.  ] 
I  have  not  been  saved  from  mistakes ;  probably  I  shall  not  be.  I 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  313 

am  sure  of  but  one  thing— I  can  declare  that  I  have  simply  at 
heart  the  glory  of  the  American  Nation  and  the  good  of  all  its 
people.  [Great  and  prolonged  cheering.]  I  thank  these  companies 
of  the  State  militia,  one  of  whom  I  recognize  as  having  done  me 
the  honor  to  attend  the  inaugural  ceremony,  for  their  presence. 
They  are  deserving,  sir  [to  the  Governor],  of  your  encouragement 
and  that  of  the  State  of  Alabama.  They  are  the  reserve  army  of 
the  United  States.  It  is  our  policy  not  to  have  a  large  regular 
army,  but  to  have  a  trained  militia  that,  in  any  exigency,  will 
step  to  the  defence  of  the  country  ;  and  if  that  exigency  shall  ever 
arise — which  God  forbid — I  know  that  you  would  respond  as 
quickly  and  readily  as  any  other  State.  [Cheers.]  [The  Gov- 
ernor :  "You  will  find  all  Alabama  at  your  back,  sir  !"]  [Continued 
cheering.  ] 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  in  addition  to  all  this  business  you  are 
doing  you  are  also  attending  to  education  and  to  those  things  that 
conduce  to  social  order.  The  American  home  is  the  one  thing  we 
cannot  afford  to  lose  out  of  the  American  life.  [Cheers.  ]  As  long 
as  we  have  pure  homes  and  God-fearing,  order-loving  fathers  and 
mothers  to  rear  the  children  that  are  given  to  them,  and  to  make 
these  homes  the  abodes  of  order,  cleanliness,  piety,  and  intelli- 
gence, the  American  society  and  the  American  Union  are  safe 
[Great  cheering.  ] 

After  the  parade  the  President's  party,  the  Governor 
and  staff,  and  the  citizens'  Reception  Committee  sat  down 
to  luncheon.  On  the  right  of  the  President  was  Mrs.  Jones, 
wife  of  the  Governor ;  on  his  left,  Mrs.  Lane,  wife  of  the 
Mayor.  Mr.  Rufus  N.  Rhodes  proposed  the  health  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  which  General  Harrison 
responded  briefly,  saying: 

We  have  seen  something  of  the  marvellous  material  growth  of  Bir- 
mingham, and  seen  evidence  of  the  great  richness  of  your  "  black 
diamonds"  and  your  iron,  and  now  we  see  something  of  your  home 
life.  The  many  beautiful  women  whom  we  have  had  the  happiness 
to  meet,  and  some  of  whom  are  now  with  us,  are  the  angels  of 
your  homes,  and  right  glad  we  are  to  be  favored  by  their  presence. 
After  all,  it  is  their  homes  which  make  a  people  great.  We  are 
glad  to  be  here ;  for,  really,  you  overwhelm  us  with  kindness. 
[Long -continued  applause.] 


314  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 


MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  APRIL  17. 

THE  presidential  party  arrived  at  Memphis  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  17th  and  were  greeted  by  10,000 
people.  The  committee  for  the  reception  and  entertain- 
ment of  President  Harrison  and  his  guests  comprised  the 
following  prominent  citizens :  Lucas  W.  Clapp,  president 
of  the  taxing  district  of  Memphis,  Chairman;  H.  M.  Neely, 
M.  Cooper,  J.  P.  Jordan,  B.  M.  Stratton,  R.  C.  Graves,  D. 
P.  Hadden,  R.  F.  Patterson,  Wm.  M.  Randolph,  John  K. 
Speed,  John  R.  Godwin,  Sam  Tate,  Jr.,  N.  W.  Speers, 
Jr.,  Josiah  Patterson,  W.  J.Crawford,  Martin  Kelly,  John 
League,  J.  M.  Keating,  J.  Harvey  Mathes,  A.  B.  Pickett, 
W.  J.  Smith,  Emerson  Etheridge,  T.  J.  Lathan,  A.  D. 
Gwynne,  R.  D.  Frayser,  J.  T.  Fargason,  Samuel  W. 
Hawkins,  T.  J.  Graham,  B.  M.  Estes,  S.  R.  Montgomery, 
W.  A.  Collier,  A.  C.  Treadwell,  F.  M.  ISTorfleet,  Alfred  G. 
Tuther,  W.  D.  Beard,  S.  H.  Haines,  R.  J.  Morgan,  Louis 
Erb,  Dr.  J.  P.  Alban,  W.  A.  Gage,  J.  N.  Snowden,  John  T. 
Moss,  Thomas  F.  Tobin,  J.  S.  Robinson,  James  Ralston, 
L.  B.  Eaton,  John  W.  Dillard,  J.  M.  Semmes,  M.  T.  Will- 
iamson, Andrew  J.  Harris,  R.  S.  Capers,  L.  H.  Estes,  J.  J. 
DuBose,  J.  B.  Clough,  J.  E.  Bigelow,  George  Arnold,  T. 
B.  Edgington,  Luke  E.  Wright,  D.  T.  Porter,  J.  T.  Pettit, 
Napoleon  Hill,  E.  S.  Hammond,  Wm.  R.  Moore,  G.  C. 
Matthews,  Colton  Greene,  Isham  G.  Harris,  J.  A.  Taylor, 
P.  M.  Winters,  Holmes  Cummins,  E.  Lowenstein,  J.  S. 
Menken,  A.  Vaccaro,  N.  M.  Jones,  R.  B.  Snowden,  W.  M. 
Farrington,  Barney  Hughes,  J.  H.  Smith,  Noland  Fon- 
taine, J.  H.  Martin,  J.  C.  Neely,  Robert  Gates,  James  W. 
Brown,  G.  E.  Dunbar,  J.  W.  Falls,  S.  C.  Toof,  W.  H.  Car-  • 
roll,  S.  P.  Read,  H.  G.  Harrington,  H.  F.  Dix,  J.  S.  Gallo- 
way, T.  W.  Brown,  H.  J.  Lynn,  J.  W.  Person,  H.  B.  Cul- 
len,  S.  W.  Green,  P.  J.  Quigley,  T.  J.  Brogan,  M.  C. 
Gallaway,  W.  E.  McGuire,  Ralph  Davis,  J.  J.  Williams, 
T.  A.  Hamilton,  E.  B.  McHenry,  George  B.  Peters,  John 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  315 

L.  Norton,  W.  H.  Bates,  M.  T.  Garvin,  S.  H.  Dunscomb, 
F.  H.  White,  and  R.  D.  Jordan. 

The  following  military  committee  also  assisted :  Gen. 
S.  F.  Carnes,  Chairman ;  Col.  Kellar  Anderson,  Col.  Hugh 
Pettit,  Maj.  J.  F.  Peters,  Col.  W.  F.  Taylor,  Col.  L.  W. 
Finley,  Gen.  A.  J.  Vaughn,  Gen.  G.  W.  Gordon,  and  Gen. 
R.  F.  Patterson. 

Chairman  Clapp  made  the  address  of  welcome.  Presi- 
dent Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — The  name  of  the  city  of  Memphis  was  famil- 
iar to  me  in  my  early  boyhood.  Born  and  reared  upon  one  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  great  river  upon  which  your  city  is  located, 
these  river  marts  of  commerce  were  the  familiar  trading-posts  of 
the  farmers  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  I  well  remember  when,  on  the 
shores  of  father's  farm,  the  old  "broad -horn"  was  loaded  from  the 
hay-press  and  the  corn-crib  to  market  with  the  plantations  along 
the  Lower  Mississippi.  I  remember  to  have  heard  from  him  and 
the  neighbors  who  constituted  the  crew  of  those  pioneer  craft  of 
river  navigation  of  the  perils  of  these  great  waters  ;  of  the  snags 
and  caving  banks  of  the  Lower  Mississippi.  In  those  times  these 
States  were  largely  supplied  with  grain  and  forage  from  the  North- 
western States.  Here  you  were  giving  your  attention  to  one  or 
two  great  staple  products,  for  which  you  found  a  large  foreign 
market.  I  congratulate  you  that  the  progress  of  events  has  made 
you  not  less  agricultural,  but  has  diversified  your  agriculture  so 
that  you  are  not  now  wholly  dependent  upon  these  great  staples  for 
the  income  of  your  farms. 

The  benefits  of  this  diversification  are  very  great  and  the  change 
symbolizes  more  than  we  at  first  realize.  This  change  means  that 
we  are  now  coming  to  understand  that  meanness  cannot  be  predi- 
cated of  any  honest  industry.  I  rejoice  that  you  are  adding  to 
diversified  agriculture  diversified  manufacturing  pursuits ;  that 
you  are  turning  your  thought  to  compressing  and  spinning  cotton 
as  well  as  raising  it.  I  know  no  reason  why  these  cotton  States, 
that  produce  75  per  cent,  of  the  cotton  of  the  world,  should  not  spin 
the  greater  portion  of  it.  I  know  no  reason  why  they  should 
export  it  as  raw  material,  rather  than  as  a  manufactured  product, 
holding  in  their  midst  the  profits  of  this  transformation  of  the  raw 
material  to  the  finished  product.  [Applause.  ] 

I  hope  it  may  be  so.  I  see  evidence  that  the  people  are  turning 
their  attention  to  new  industries,  and  are  bringing  into  the  midst; 


316  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  these  farming  communities  a  large  population  of  artisans  and 
laborers  to  consume  at  your  own  doors  the  product  of  your  farms. 
I  am  glad  that  a  liberal  Government  is  making  this  great  waterway 
to  the  sea  safe  and  capable  of  an  uninterrupted  use.  I  am  glad 
that  it  is  here  making  the  shores  of  your  own  city  convenient  and 
safe,  and  that  it  is  opening,  north  and  south,  an  uninterrupted 
and  cheap  transportation  for  the  products  of  these  lauds  that  lie 
along  this  great  system  of  rivers.  I  am  glad  that  it  is  bringing 
you  in  contact  with  ports  of  the  Gulf  that  look  out  with  near  and 
inviting  aspect  toward  a  great  trade  in  South  America  that  we 
shall  soon  possess.  I  am  glad  to  believe  that  these  great  river 
towns  will  speedily  exchange  their  burdens  with  American  ships 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  be  transported  to  foreign  ports 
under  the  flag  of  our  country.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

This  Government  of  ours  is  a  compact  of  the  people  to  be  gov- 
erned by  a  majority,  expressing  itself  by  lawful  methods.  [Cheers.  ] 
Everything  in  this  country  is  to  be  brought  to  the  measure  of  the 
law.  I  propose  no  other  rule,  either  as  an  individual  or  as  a  pub- 
lic officer.  I  cannot  in  any  degree  let  down  this  rule  [cries  of 
"No  !"  and  cheers]  without  violating  my  official  duty.  There  must 
be  no  other  supremacy  than  that  of  lawful  majorities.  We  must 
all  come  at  last  to  this  conclusion — that  the  supremacy  of  the  law 
is  the  one  supremacy  in  this  country  of  ours.  [Cheers.  ] 

Now,  my  fellow  citizens,  I  thank  you  for  this  warm  and  mag- 
nificent demonstration  of  your  respect,  accepting  cordially  the 
expression  of  the  chief  of  your  city  Government  that  you  are  a 
sincere,  earnest,  patriotic,  devoted  people.  I  beg  to  leave  with 
you  the  suggestion  that  each  in  his  place  shall  do  what  he  can  to 
maintain  social  order  and  public  peace  ;  that  the  lines  here  and 
everywhere  shall  be  between  the  well-disposed  and  the  ill-disposed. 

The  effort  of'  speech  to  this  immense  throng  is  too  great  for  me. 
I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  carry  from  the  great  war  no  sentiment 
of  ill-will  to  any.  [Cheers.]  I  am  glad  that  the  Confederate 
soldier,  confessing  that  defeat  which  has  brought  him  blessings 
that  would  have  been  impossible  otherwise,  has  been  taken  again 
into  full  participation  in  the  administration  of  the  Government ; 
that  no  penalties,  limitations,  or  other  inflictions  rest  upon  him. 
I  have  taken  and  can  always  take  the  hand  of  a  brave  Confederate 
soldier  with  confidence  and  respect.  [Great  cheering.] 

I  w^ould  put  him  under  one  yoke  only,  and  that  is  the  yoke  that 
the  victors  in  that  struggle  bore  when  they  went  home  and  laid  off 
their  uniforms — the  yoke  of  the  law  and  the  obligation  always  to 
obey  it.  [Cheers.]  Upon  that  platform,  without  distinction  be- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  317 

tween  the  victors  and  the  vanquished,  we  enter  together  upon 
possibilities  as  a  people  that  we  cannot  overestimate.  I  believe 
the  Nation  is  lifting  itself  to  a  new  life ;  that  this  flag  shall  float 
on  unfamiliar  seas,  and  that  this  coming  prosperity  will  be  equally 
shared  by  all  our  people.  [Prolonged  cheering.  ] 


LITTLE    ROCK,  ARKANSAS,  APRIL    17. 

As  the  presidential  party  crossed  the  Mississippi  they 
were  met  on  the  Arkansas  shore  by  Gov.  James  P.  Eagle 
and  wife,  Judge  John  A.  Williams,  Mayor  H.  L.  Fletcher, 
James  Mitchell,  Col.  Logan  H.  Roots,  Mrs.  Judge  Cald- 
well,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Waters,  Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Whipple,  Mrs.  W. 
C.  Ratcliffe,  Miss  Jean  Loughborough,  and  Miss  Fannie 
Mitchell.  Arriving  at  Little  Rock,  late  in  the  afternoon, 
the  President  was  welcomed  by  Hon.  Josiah  H.  Shinn,  R. 
A.  Edgerton,  Chas.  C.  Waters,  B.  D.  Caldwell,  W.  A. 
Clark,  H.  F.  Roberts,  T.  H.  Jones,  and  the  other  members 
of  the  Committee  of  Reception.  McPhersoii  and  Ord 
posts,  G.  A.  R.,  in  charge  of  Marshal  O.  M.  Spellman,  Lee 
Clough,  and  C.  Altenberg,  acted  as  escort  to  the  President, 
accompanied  by  the  McCarthy  Light  Guards.  The  parade 
was  in  charge  of  Grand  Marshal  Zeb  Ward,  Jr.,  assisted 
by  Col.  W.  T.  Kelley,  Horace  G.  Allis,  and  Oscar  Davis. 
The  Lincoln  Club,  commanded  by  P.  Raleigh  and  P.  C. 
Dooley,  participated  in  the  reception.  At  the  State  House 
Governor  Eagle  formally  welcomed  the  distinguished 
travellers. 

President  Harrison  replied : 

Governor  Eagle  and  Fellow-citizens — No  voice  is  large  enough  to 
compass  this  immense  throng.  But  my  heart  is  large  enough  to 
receive  all  the  gladness  and  joy  of  your  great  welcome  here  to-day. 
[Applause.]  I  thank  you  one  and  all  for  your  presence,  for  the 
kind  words  of  greeting  which  have  been  spoken  by  your  Governor, 
and  for  these  kind  faces  turned  to  me.  In  all  this  I  see  a  great 
fraternity ;  in  all  this  I  feel  new  impulses  to  a  better  discharge  of 
every  public  and  every  private  duty.  I  cannot  but  feel  that  in 


318  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

consequence  of  this  brief  contact  with  you  to-day  I  shall  carry 
away  a  better  knowledge  of  your  State,  its  resources,  its  capabili- 
ties, and  of  the  generous  warm-heartedness  of  its  people.  We 
have  a  country  whose  greatness  this  meeting  evidences,  for  there 
are  here  assembled  masses  of  independent  men.  The  commonwealth 
rests  upon  the  free  suffrage  of  its  citizens  and  their  devotion  to  the 
Constitution,  and  the  flag  is  the  bulwark  of  its  life.  [Cheers.] 
We  have  agreed,  I  am  sure,  that  we  will  do  no  more  fighting 
among  ourselves.  [Cries  of  "Good!  good!  "and  cheers.]  I  may 
say  to  you  confidentially  that  Senator  Jones  and  I  agreed  several 
years  ago,  after  observing  together  the  rifle  practice  at  Fort  Snell- 
ing,  that  shooting  had  been  reduced  to  such  accuracy  that  war 
was  too  dangerous  for  either  of  us  to  engage  in  it.  [Laughter  and 
cheers.  ]  But,  my  friends,  I  cannot  prolong  this  talk.  Once  already 
to-day  in  the  dampness  of  this  atmosphere  I  have  attempted  to 
speak,  and  therefore  you  will  allow  me  to  conclude  by  wishing  for 
your  State,  for  its  Governor  and  all  its  public  officers,  for  all  its 
citizens  without  exception,  high  or  humble,  the  blessing  of  social 
order,  peace,  and  prosperity— the  fruits  of  intelligence  and  piety. 
[Great  cheering.] 


TEXARKANA,  ARKANSAS,  APRIL  17. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  it  was  nearly  midnight  when  the 
presidential  train  reached  Texarkana,  about  2,000  citizens 
were  present.  Foremost  in  the  movement  to  give  a  fitting 
reception  to  the  President  were :  George  H.  Langsdale, 
Robert  Langsdale,  Richard  Brunazzi,  and  Edward  Don- 
nelly. Among  other  well-known  citizens  present  were 
Lyman  S.  Roach,  Commander  of  Dick  Ya,tes  Post,  G.  A. 
R. ;  Ira  A  Church,  J.  A.  Mifflin,  Wm.  Rhinders,  W.  F. 
Loren,  W.  W.  Shaw,  Fred  A.  Church,  J.  P.  Ashcraft, 
Wm.  H.  Bush,  A.  B.  Matson,  W.  W.  De  Prato,  T.  P.  Mc- 
Calla,  J.  W.  Hatcher,  John  McKenna,  Peter  Gable,  John 
Mayher,  Martin  Foster,  J.  K.  Langsdale,  and  F.  L. 
Schuster. 

The  President  spoke  briefly  and  said : 

Having  had  notice  of  your  request  that  we  stop  here  for  a  few 
moments,  I  have  remained  up  in  order  to  thank  you  for  your 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  319 

expressed  interest  and  for  this  very  large  and  cordial  demonstra- 
tion. I  have  spoken  several  times  during  the  day,  and  am  sure 
you  will  excuse  me  from  attempting  now,  at  midnight,  to  make  a 
speech.  I  hope  that  prosperity  is  here  and  that  it  may  abide  with 
you.  Thanking  you  again,  1  bid  you  good-night. 


PALESTINE,  TEXAS,  APRIL  18. 

THE  first  stop  in  the  Lone  Star  State  was  at  Palestine, 
where  the  President  received  a  royal  welcome,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  turning  out  to  do  him  honor.  His  excel- 
lency Gov.  James  S.  Hogg  cordially  greeted  the  President 
at  this  point.  Hon.  John  H.  Reagan,  Hon.  Geo.  A. 
Wright,  Mayor  of  Palestine,  and  the  City  Council  in  a 
body,  constituted  the  Committee  of  Reception,  together 
with  the  following  prominent  residents :  Capt.  T.  T.  Gam- 
mage,  A.  H.  Bailey,  Geo.  E.  Dilley,  K  R.  Royall,  W.  C. 
Kendall,  A.  Teah,  J.  R.  Hearne,  J.  W.  Ozment,  P.  W. 
Ezell,  O.  B.  Sawyers,  G.  "W.  Burkitt,  W.  M.  Lacy,  Henry 
Ash,  A.  C.  Green,  A.  R.  Howard,  A.  L.  Bowers,  D.  W. 
Heath,  Wm.  Broyles,  John  J.  Word,  E.  R.  Kersh,  R.  J. 
Wallace,  J.  M.  Fullinwider,  Rev.  E.  F.  Fales  and  Mrs. 
Fales,  who  welcomed  her  distinguished  brother  Postmas- 
ter-General Wanamaker. 

Governor  Hogg  made  the  formal  address  of  welcome,  to 
which  the  President  responded  as  follows : 

Governor  Hogg  and  Fellow -citizens — It  gives  me  pleasure  to  come 
this  fresh  morning  into  this  great  State— a  kingdom  without  a 
king,  an  empire  without  an  emperor,  a  State  gigantic  in  propor- 
tions and  matchless  in  resources,  with  diversified  industries  and 
infinite  capacities  to  sustain  a  tremendous  population  and  to  bring 
to  every  home  where  industry  abides  prosperity  and  comfort.  Such 
homes,  I  am  sure,  are  represented  here  this  morning — the  Ameri 
can  home,  where  the  father  abides  in  the  respect  and  the  mother 
in  the  deep  love  of  the  children  that  sit  about  the  fireside ;  where 
all  that  makes  us  good  is  taught  and  the  first  rudiments  of  obedi 
ence  to  law,  of  orderly  relations  one  to  another,  are  put  into  the 
young  minds.  Out  of  this  comes  social  order :  on  this  rests  the 


320  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

security  of  our  country.  The  home  is  the  training-school  for 
American  citizenship.  There  we  learn  to  defer  to  others;  selfish- 
ness is  suppressed  by  the  needs  of  those  about  us.  There  self-sacri- 
fice, love,  and  willingness  to  give  ourselves  for  others  are  born. 

I  thank  you  that  so  many  of  you  have  come  here  this  morning 
from  such  homes,  and  all  of  us  are  thankful  together  that  peace 
rests  upon  our  whole  country.  All  of  us  have  pledged  ourselves 
that  no  sectional  strife  shall  ever  divide  us,  and  that  while  abiding 
in  peace  with  all  the  world  we  are,  against  all  aggression,  one 
mighty,  united  people.  [Cheers.  ] 

I  desire  to  assure  you,  my  countrymen,  that  in  my  heart  I  make 
no  distinction  between  our  people  anywhere.  [Cheers.  ]  I  have  a 
deep  desire  that  everywhere  in  all  our  States  there  shall  be  that 
profound  respect  for  the  will  of  the  majority,  expressed  by  our 
voters,  that  shall  bring  constant  peace  into  all  our  communities. 
It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  come  here  this  morning  before  breakfast. 
Perhaps  you  are  initiating  me  into  the  Texas  habit — is  it  so? — of 
taking  something  before  breakfast.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  This 
exhilarating  draught  of  good-will  you  have  given  me  this  morn- 
ing will  not,  I  am  sure,  disturb  either  iny  digestion  or  comfort 
during  this  day.  [Cheers.] 


HOUSTON,   TEXAS,  APRIL  18. 

THE  presidential  party  reached  Houston  at  noon  on 
April  18  and  were  greeted  by  an  enthusiastic  assemblage 
estimated  at  20,000.  The  welcoming  committee,  headed 
by  Mayor  Scherffius,  comprised  the  following-named  prom- 
inent citizens:  Hon.  Charles  Stewart,  Geo.  A.  Race,  J. 
W.  Temby,  Maj.  R.  B.  Baer,  A.  K.  Taylor,  Col.  John  T. 
Brady,  W.  D.  Cleveland,  D.  C.  Smith,  C.  Lombardi,  Dr. 
E.  F.  Schmidt,  Capt,  J.  C.  Hutcheson,  T.  W.  House,  S.  K. 
Dick,  W.  B.  Chew,  James  F.  Dumble,  R.  B.  Morris,  James 
A.  Patton,  Jr.,  A.  P.  Root,  W.  V.  R.  Watson,  G.  W.  Kidd, 
G.  C.  Felton,  H.  W.  Garrow,  Geo.  E.  Dickey,  F.  Halff, 
John  F.  Dickson,  E.  W.  Cave,  Charles  Dillingham,  A.  0. 
Herndon,  J.  W.  Jones,  D.  M.  Angle,  Geo.  L.  Porter,  Rufus 
Cage,  F.  A.  Rice,  Dr.  D.  F.  Stuart,  and  President  Mitchell, 
of  the  Commercial  Club.  Many  prominent  ladies  of  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  321 

city  participated  in  receiving  and  entertaining  the  ladies 
in  the  presidential  party. 

Congressman  Stewart  introduced  the  President,  who 
spoke  as  follows : 

My  Fellow- citizens — Your  faces  all  respond  to  the  words  of  wel- 
come which  have  been  spoken  in  your  behalf.  We  have  been  not 
only  pleased  but  touched  by  the  delicate  and  kindly  expressions  of 
regard  which  we  have  received  since  entering  the  State  of  Texas. 
I  remained  up  last  night  until  after  midnight  that  I  might  not 
unconsciously  pass  into  this  great  State,  and  I  was  called  very  early 
from  my  bed  this  morning  to  receive  a  draught  of  welcome,  before 
I  had  breakfasted,  from  another  Texas  audience.  You  have  a 
State  whose  greatness  I  think  you  have  discovered. 

A  stranger  can  hardly  hope  to  point  out  to  you  that  which  you 
have  not  already  known.  Perhaps  Virginia  and  Kentucky  have 
been  heard  to  say  more  about  their  respective  States  than  Texas ; 
but  I  think  their  voices  are  likely  soon  to  be  drowned  by  the  en- 
thusiastic and  affectionate  claims  which  you  will  present  to  the 
country  for  your  great  commonwealth.  [Cheers.]  You  have  the 
resources  in  some  measure — in  a  great  measure— of  all  the  States 
gathered  within  your  borders  ;  a  soil  adapted  to  the  production  of 
all  the  cereals  and  grasses ;  and  to  this  you  add  cotton,  sugar,  and 
tobacco.  You  are  very  rightly  diversifying  your  crops,  because 
the  history  of  intelligent  farming  shows  that  as  the  crops  are 
diversified  the  people  prosper. 

All  is  not  staked  upon  the  success  of  a  single  crop.  You  do  well, 
therefore,  to  raise  cotton,  sugar,  and  tobacco,  and  I  am  glad  you 
are  not  neglecting  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  corn,  and  all  the  cereals. 
We  have  been  trying  to  do  what  we  could  from  Washington  to 
make  for  you  a  larger  and  better  market  for  your  enormous  meat 
products.  [Cheers.  ]  We  have  felt  that  the  restrictions  imposed 
by  some  of  the  European  governments  could  not  be  fairly  justified 
upon  the  ground  stated  by  them.  Already  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture— himself  a  farmer,  who  has  with  his  own  hands  wrought 
in  all  the  work  of  the  farm — has  succeeded  in  procuring  the  re- 
moval of  some  of  these  injurious  restrictions,  and  has  announced 
to  the  country  that  exportation  of  cattle  has  increased  100  per  cent, 
in  the  last  year.  [Cheers.]  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  these  inter- 
ests will  have  the  most  careful  attention  from  the  Government  at 
Washington  and  from  our  representatives  at  foreign  courts.  It  is 
believed  that  we  have  now  by  legislation  a  system  of  sanitary 
inspection  of  our  meat  products  that,  wheu  once  put  in  operation 


322  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  examined  by  the  European  governments,  will  remove  the  last 
excuse  for  the  exclusion  of  our  meats  from  those  foreign  states. 

Our  time  is  so  limited  that  I  can  scarcely  say  more  than  "thank 
you. "  We  cannot  at  all  repay  you  for  this  demonstration  of  wel- 
come, but  let  me  say  that  in  all  your  prosperity  I  shall  rejoice.  I  do 
desire  that  all  our  legislation  and  all  our  institutions  and  the  com- 
bined energies  of  all  our  people  shall  work  together  for  the  common 
good  of  all  our  States  and  all  our  population.  [Great  cheering.  ] 
You  have  great  resources  of  a  material  sort,  and  yet  above  all  this 
I  rejoice  that  the  timely  forethought  o'f  your  public  men  has  pro- 
vided an  unexampled  school  fund  for  the  education  of  the  children. 

These  things  that  partake  of  the  life  that  is  spiritual  are  better 
after  all  than  the  material.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no  true  prosperity 
in  any  State  or  community  where  they  are  not  thoughtfully  fos- 
tered. Good  social  order,  respect  for  the  law,  regard  for  other 
men's  rights,  orderly,  peaceful  administration  are  the  essential 
things  in  any  community.  [Cheers.  ] 


GALVESTON,  TEXAS,  APRIL  18. 

THE  President  and  his  party,  accompanied  by  Governor 
Hogg,  arrived  at  Galveston  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday, 
April  18,  and  were  tendered  an  ovation  by  the  hospitable 
residents  of  the  Island  City.  The  distinguished  travellers 
were  met  at  Houston  by  a  committee  of  escort  consisting  of 
Chairman  Leo  N.  Levi,  George  Sealy,  Julius  Runge,  R. 
B.  Hawley,  W.  F.  Ladd,  Col.  R.  G.  Lowe,  Maj.  C.  J.  Allen, 
Aldermen  C.  M.  Mason  and  T.  W.  Jackson,  D.  D.  Bryan, 
J.  W.  Burson,  Mrs.  R.  L.  Fulton,  Mrs.  R.  B.  Hawley,  Mrs. 
Aaron  Blum,  Mrs.  W.  F.  Ladd,  and  Mrs.  C.  J.  Allen. 

On  arriving  in  the  city  the  President  was  welcomed  by 
the  other  members  of  the  Reception  Committee,  headed  by 
Mayor  Roger  L.  Fulton,  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  the 
following  prominent  citizens :  Leon  Blum,  R.  S.  Willis, 
J.  C.  League,  H.  A.  Landes,  J.  E.  Wallis,  Col.  J.  S.  Rogers, 
P.  J.  Willis,  Robert  Bornefeld,  C.  C.  Sweeney,  M.  F.  Mott, 
Albert  Weis,  M.  Lasker,  J.  Z.  Miller,  Fen  Cannon,  Col. 
John  D.  Rogers,  J.  N.  Sawyer,  W.  H.  Sinclair,  Joseph 
Cuney,  Geo.  Seeligson,  Julius  Weber,  J.  D.  Skinner,  Thos. 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  323 

H.  Sweeney,  James  Montgomery,  F.  L.  Dana,  James 
Moore,  W.  F.  Beers,  J.  H.  Hatchings,  Wm.  H.  Masters,  M. 
W.  Shaw,  W.  B.  Benson,  H.  B.  Cullum,  C.  H.  Rickert,  W. 

B.  Lockhart,  U.  Muller,  F.  Lammers,  H.  F.  Sproule,  Judge 
C.L.Cleveland,  Judge   Wm.  H.  Stewart,    R  T.  Wheeler, 
N.  W.  Cuney,  Thomas  W.  Cain,  Samuel  Penland,  R.  G. 
Street,  J.  Lobit,  D.  M.  Erlich,  C.  M.  Trueheart,  L.  Fellman, 

C.  R.  Reifel,  Charles  Vidor,  George  Butler,  W.  Vowrinc- 
kle,  Joe  Owens,  C.  E.  Angel,  Rev.  S.  M.  Bird,  Br.  A.  W. 
Fly,  Br.  J.  T.  Y.  Paine,  Br.  H.  P.  Cooke,  J.  R.  Gibson, 
Howard  Carnes,  Charles  Maddox,  Bishop  Gallagher,  Rev. 
A.  T.  Spaulding,  A.  B.  Tuller,  Br.  J.  B.  Baviss,  Rev.  J.  E. 
Edwards,  A.  B.  Homer,  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Sears,  J.  Singer,  R. 
C.  Johnson,  J.  W.  Riddell,  B.  Tiernan,  T.  A.  Gary,  John 
Focke,  Joseph  Scott,  W.  E.  McBonald,  Geo.  Schneider,  F. 
O.  Becker,  Thomas  Goggan,  J.  B.  Sherwood,  O.  H.  Cooper, 
E.  O'C.  Maclnerney,  Thos.  S.  King,  Robert   Bay,   Baniel 
Buckley,  J.  J.  Hanna,  F.  W.  Fickett,  Wm.  Selkirk,  and  J. 
A.  Robertson, 

Immediately  following  their  arrival  the  presidential 
party,  escorted  by  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Crain,  Mr.  Leon  Blum, 
and  other  members  of  the  Reception  Committee,  enjoyed 
a  trip  about  the  harbor  aboard  one  of  the  Mallory  line 
steamships,  enabling  them  to  view  the  extensive  Govern- 
ment works  for  deepening  the  channel  at  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor.  This  excursion  was  followed  by  a  ride  across 
the  island  amid  a  shower  of  flowers. 

The  parade  was  participated  in  by  all  the  military  and 
industrial  organizations  of  the  city ;  also  by  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows, Knights  of  Pythias,  and  other  orders,  and  was  a  most 
imposing  demonstration.  The  G.  A.  R.  veterans  acted  as 
a  guard  of  honor  to  the  President  on  the  march,  and  the 
day  was  just  closing  when  the  column  arrived  at  the 
Beach  Hotel,  on  the  very  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
where  the  formal  address  of  welcome  was  ably  delivered 
by  Gen.  T.  N.  Waul. 


324  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

President  Harrison's  response  was  the  longest  speech  of 
his  trip,  and  attracted  wide-spread  and  favorable  comment. 
He  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — We  close  to-night  a  whole  week  of  travel, 
a  whole  week  of  hand-shaking,  a  whole  week  of  talking.  I  have 
before  me  10,000  miles  of  hand- shaking  and  speaking,  and  I  am 
not,  by  reason  of  what  this  week  has  brought  me,  in  voice  to  con 
tend  with  the  fine  but  rather  strong  Gulf  breeze  which  pours  in 
upon  us  to-night ;  and  yet  it  comes  to  me  laden  with  the  fragrance 
of  your  welcome.  [Cheers.]"  It  comes  with  the  softness,  refresh- 
ment, and  grace  which  have  accompanied  all  my  intercourse  with 
the  people  of  Texas.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

The  magnificent  and  cordial  demonstration  which  you  have  made 
in  our  honor  to-day  will  always  remain  a  bright  and  pleasant 
picture  in  my  memory.  [Great  cheers.  ]  I  am  glad  to  have  been 
able  to  rest  my  eyes  upon  the  city  of  Galveston.  I  am  glad  to 
have  been  able  to  traverse  this  harbor  and  to  look  upon  that  work 
which  a  liberal  and  united  Government  has  inaugurated  for  your 
benefit  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Northwest.  [Great  and  prolonged 
cheers.]  I  have  always  believed  that  it  was  one  of  the  undisputed 
functions  of  the  general  Government  to  make  these  great  water- 
ways which  penetrate  our  country  and  these  harbors  into  which 
our  shipping  must  come  to  receive  the  tribute  of  rail  and  river 
safe  and  easy  of  access. 

This  ministering  care  should  extend  to  our  whole  country,  and  I 
am  glad  that,  adopting  a  policy  with  reference  to  the  harbor  work, 
here  at  least,  which  I  insisted  upon  in  a  public  message  [great 
and  prolonged  cheering] ,  the  appropriation  has  been  made  adequate 
to  a  diligent  and  prompt  completion  of  the  work.  [Great  cheer- 
ing. ]  In  the  past  the  Government  has  undertaken  too  many  things 
at  once,  and  its  annual  appropriations  have  been  so  inadequate 
that  the  work  of  the  engineers  was  much  retarded  and  often  seri- 
ously damaged  in  the  interval  of  waiting  for  fresh  appropriations. 

It  is  a  better  policy,  when  a  work  has  once  been  determined  to 
be  of  national  significance,  that  the  appropriation  should  be 
sufficient  to  bring  it  speedily  and  without  loss  to  a  conclusion. 
[Great  cheering.]  I  am  glad  that  the  scheme  of  the  engineer  for 
giving  deep  water  to  Galveston  is 'thus  to  be  prosecuted. 

I  have  said  some  of  our  Soutli  Atlantic  and  Gulf  ports  occupy 
a  most  favorable  position  for  the  new  commerce  toward  which  we 
are  reaching  out  our  hands,  and  which  is  reaching  out  its  hands 
to  us.  [Great  cheering.  ]  I  am  an  economist  in  the  sense  that  I 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  325 

would  not  waste  one  dollar  of  public  money ,  but  I  am  not  an 
economist  in  the  sense  that  I  would  leave  incomplete  or  suffer  to 
lag  any  great  work  highly  promotive  of  the  true  interests  of  our 
people.  [Great  cheering.  ] 

We  are  great  enough  and  rich  enough  to  reach  forward  to  grander 
conceptions  than  have  entered  the  minds  of  some  of  our  statesmen 
in  the  past.  If  you  are  content,  I  am  not,  that  the  nations  of 
Europe  shall  absorb  nearly  the  entire  commerce  of  these  near  sister 
republics  that  lie  south  of  us.  It  is  naturally  in  large  measure 
ours — ours  by  neighborhood,  ours  by  nearness  of  access,  ours  by 
that  sympathy  that  binds  a  hemisphere  without  a  king.  [Cheers.  J 

The  inauguration  of  the  Three  Americas  Congress,  or  more  prop- 
erly the  American  Conference,  the  happy  conduct  of  that  meeting, 
the  wise  and  comprehensive  measures  which  were  suggested  by  it, 
with  the  fraternal  and  kindly  spirit  that  was  manifested  by  our 
southern  neighbors,  has  stimulated  a  desire  in  them  and  in  our 
people  for  a  larger  intercourse  of  commerce  and  of  friendship..  The 
provisions  of  the  bill  passed  at  the  last  session  looking  to  a  reci- 
procity of  trade  not  only  met  with  my  official  approval  when  I 
signed  the  bill,  but  with  my  zealous  promotion  before  the  bill  was 
reported.  [Great  and  prolonged  cheering.] 

Its  provision  concerning  reciprocity  is  that  we  have  placed  upon 
our  free  list  sugar,  tea,  coffee  and  hides,  and  have  said  to  those  nations 
from  whom  we  receive  these  great  staples :  Give  us  free  access  to 
your  ports  for  an  equivalent  amount  of  our  produce  in  exchange, 
or  we  will  reimpose  duties  upon  the  articles  named.  The  law 
leaves  it  wholly  to  the  Executive  to  negotiate  these  arrangements. 
It  does  not  need  that  they  shall  take  the  form  of  a  treaty. 

They  need  not  be  submitted  for  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate. 
It  only  needs  that  we,  having  made  our  offer,  shall  receive  their 
offer  in  return ;  and  when  they  shall  have  made  up  an  acceptable 
schedule  of  articles  produced  by  us  that  shall  have  free  access  to 
their  ports,  a  proclamation  by  the  President  closes  the  whole  busi- 
ness. [Cheers.]  Already  one  treaty  with  that  youngest  of  the 
South  American  republics,  the  great  republic  of  Brazil,  has  been 
negotiated  and  proclaimed.  I  think,  without  disclosing  an  Exec 
utive  secret,  I  may  tell  you  that  the  arrangement  with  Brazil  is 
not  likely  to  abide  in  lonesomeness  much  longer  [great  and  pro- 
longed cheering]  ;  that  others  are  to  follow,  and  that  as  a  result  of 
these  trade  arrangements  the  products  of  the  United  States — our 
meats,  our  breadstuffs,  and  certain  lines  of  manufactured  goods — 
are  to  find  free  or  favored  access  to  the  ports  of  many  of  these 
South  and  Central  American  States.  All  the  States  will  share  in 


326  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

these  benefits.  We  have  had  some  analysis  of  the  manifests  of 
some  of  our  steamers  now  sailing  to  South  American  ports,  and  in 
a  single  steamer  it  was  found  that  twenty-five  States  contributed  to 
the  cargo. 

But  we  shall  need  something  more.  We  shall  need  American 
steamships  to  carry  American  goods  to  these  ports.  [Great  cheer- 
ing. J  The  last  Congress  passed  a  bill  appropriating  about  $1, 500, 000, 
and  authorized  the  Postmaster -General  to  contract  with  steamship 
companies  for  a  period  not  exceeding  ten  years  for  the  carrying  of 
the  United  States  mail.  The  foreign  mail  service  is  the  only  mail 
service  out  of  which  the  Government  has  been  making  a  net  profit. 
We  do  not  make  a  profit  out  of  our  land  service. 

There  is  an  annual  deficiency  which  my  good  friend  the  Post- 
master-General has  been  trying  veiy  hard  to  reduce  or  wipe  out. 
The  theory  of  our  mail  service  is  that  it  is  for  the  people,  that  we 
are  not  to  make  a  profit  out  of  it,  that  we  are  to  give  them  as 
cheap  postage  as  is  possible.  We  are,  many  of  us,  looking  forward 
to  a  time  when  we  shall  have  one -cent  postage  in  this  country. 
[Cheers.]  We  have  been  so  close  and  penurious  in  dealing  with 
our  ships  in  the  carrying  of  foreign  mails  that  we  have  actually 
made  revenues  out  of  that  business,  not  having  spent  for  it  what 
we  have  received  from  it.  Now  we  propose  to  change  that  policy 
and  to  make  more  liberal  contracts  with  American  lines  carrying 
American  mail.  [Cheers.] 

Some  one  may  say  we  ought  not  to  go  into  this  business,  that  it 
is  subsidy.  But,  my  friend,  every  other  great  nation  of  the  world 
has  been  doing  it  and  is  doing  it  to-day.  Great  Britain  and  France 
have  built  up  their  great  steamship  lines  by  Government  aid,  and 
it  seems  to  me  our  attitude  with  reference  to  that  is  aptly  portrayed 
by  an  illustration  I  mentioned  the  other  day.  In  olden  times  no 
wholesale  merchant  sent  out  travelling  men  to  solicit  custom, 
but  he  stood  in  his  own  store  and  waited  for  his  customers. 
But  presently  some  enterprising  merchant  began  to  send  out  men 
with  their  samples  to  seek  the  trade,  to  save  the  country  buyer  the 
cost  of  the  trip  to  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  until  finally  that 
practice  has  become  universal,  and  these  active,  intelligent  travel- 
ling men  are  scurrying  this  country  over,  pushing  and  soliciting 
in  their  several  lines  of  business.  Now  imagine  some  conservative 
merchant  in  New  York  saying  to  himself  •  "All  this  is  wrong ;  the 
trade  ought  to  come  to  me. "  If  he  should  refuse  to  adopt  these 
modern  methods  what  would  be  the  result?  He  must  adopt  the 
new  methods  or  go  out  of  business.  We  have  been  refusing  to 
adopt  the  universal  method  of  our  competitors  in  commerce  to 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  327 

stimulate  their  shipping  interest  and  have  gone  out  of  the  business. 
[Laughter  and  cheers.  J  Encouraged  by  what  your  spokesman  has 
said  to-night.  I  venture  to  declare  that  I  am  in  favor  of  going  into 
business  again,  and  when  it  -is  re-established  I  hope  Galveston  will 
be  in  the  partnership.  [Great  cheers.] 

It  has  been  the  careful  study  of  the  Postmaster -General  in  pre- 
paring to  execute  the  la\v  to  which  I  have  referred  to  see  how 
much  increase  in  routes  and  ships  we  could  secure  by  it.  We  have 
said  to  the  few  existing  American  lines  :  You  must  not  treat  this 
appropriation  as  a  plate  of  soup,  to  be  divided  and  consumed. 
You  must  give  us  new  lines,  new  ships,  increased  trips,  and  new 
ports  of  call.  Already  the  steamship  lines  are  looking  over  the 
routes  to  see  what  they  can  do,  with  a  view  of  increasing  their 
tonnage  and  establishing  new  lines. 

The  Postmaster  General  has  invited  the  attention  and  suggestion 
of  all  the  boards  of  trade  of  all  our  seaboard  cities.  Undoubtedly 
you  have  received  such  a  letter.  This  appropriation  is  for  one 
year  ;  what  the  future  is  to  be  must  depend  upon  the  deliberate 
judgment  of  the  people.  If  during  my  term  of  office  they  shall 
strike  down  a  law  that  I  believe  to  be  beneficial  or  destroy  its 
energy  by  withholding  appropriations,  I  shall  bow  to  their  will, 
but  I  shall  feel  great  disappointment  if  we  do  not  make  an  era  for 
the  revival  of  American  commerce.  I  do  much  want  that  the  time 
shall  come  when  our  citizens  living  in  temporary  exile  in  foreign 
ports  shall  now  and  then  see  steaming  into  these  distant  ports  a 
fine  modern  man-of-war,  flying  the  United  States  flag  [cheers], 
with  the  best  modern  guns  on  her  deck,  and  a  brave  American 
crew  in  her  forecastle.  [Cheers.  ]  I  want,  also,  that  in  these  ports, 
so  long  unfamiliar  with  the  American  flag,  there  shall  again  be 
found  OUT*  steamships  and  our  sailing  vessels  flying  the  flag  that  we 
all  love,  and  carrying  from  our  shores  the  products  that  these  men 
of  toil  have  brought  to  them  to  exchange  for  the  products  of  other 
climes. 

I  think  we  should  add  to  all  this,  and  happily  it  is  likely  to  be 
accomplished  by  individual  efforts,  the  early  completion  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal.  [Cheers.]  The  Pacific  coast  should  no  longer 
be  found  by  sea  only  by  the  passage  of  the  Horn.  The  short  route 
should  be  opened,  and  it  will  be,  and  then  with  this  wondrous 
stirring  among  the  people  of  all  our  States,  this  awakening  to  new 
business  plans  and  more  careful  and  economical  work,  there  will 
come  great  prosperity  to  all  our  people.  Texas  will  spin  more  of 
the  cotton  that  she  raises. 

The  great  States  of  the  South  will  be  in  discontent  with  the  old 


328  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

condition  that  made  them  simply  agricultural  States,  and  will 
rouse  themselves  to  compete  with  the  older  manufacturing  States 
of  the  North  and  East,  [Cheers.]  The  vision  I  have,  all  the 
thoughts  I  have  of  this  matter  embrace  all  the  States  and  all  my 
countrymen.  I  do  not  think  of  it  as  a  question  of  party  ;  I  think 
of  it  as  a  great  American  question.  [Cheers.  ]  By  the  invitation 
of  the  address  which  was  made  to  me  I  have  freely  spoken  my 
mind  to  you  on  these  topics.  I  hope  I  have  done  so  with  no  offence 
or  impropriety.  [Cries  of  "No,  no!"  and  cheers.] 

I  would  not  on  an  occasion  so  full  of  general  good  feeling  as  this 
obtrude  anything  that  should  induce  division  or  dissent.  For  all 
who  do  dissent  I  have  the  most  respectful  tolerance.  The  views  I 
hold  are  the  result  of  some  thought  and  investigation,  and  as  they 
are  questions  of  public  concern  I  confidently  submit  them  to  the 
arbitrament  of  brave  and  enlightened  American  suffrage.  [Ap- 
plause and  cheers.] 


SAN  ANTONIO,  TEXAS,  APRIL  20. 

THE  President  and  his  party  passed  their  first  Sunday 
at  Galveston,  leaving  the  Island  City  at  midnight  and  ar- 
riving at  San  Antonio  at  11:15  Monday  morning.  A 
special  committee,  consisting  of  Hon.  C.  W.  Ogden,  Chair- 
man ;  Col.  C.  M.  Terrell,  S.  M.  Johnson,  J.  S.  McNamara, 
Mrs.  Ogden,  Mrs.  Johnson,  and  Miss  Eleanor  Sullivan, 
escorted  the  party  from  Galveston.  The  Alamo  City  was 
profusely  decorated  in  honor  of  the  visit,  and  a  great  throng 
greeted  the  President's  arrival.  He  was  received  by  the 
Hon.  Bryan  Callaghan,  Mayor  of  the  city,  at  the  head  of 
the  following  committee  of  leading  citizens :  Gen.  David 
S.  Stanley,  U.  S.  A. ;  Col.  J.  P.  Martin,  Col.  W.  B.  Wright, 
Col.  H.  B.  Andrews,  Maj.  C.  C.  Cresson,  Hon.  W.  W. 
King,  L.  M.  Gregory,  B.  F.  Yoakum,  C.  W.  Ogden,  H.  D. 
Kampmann,  J.  S.  Alexander,  W.  J.  B.  Patterson,  A.  W. 
Houston,  Reagan  Houston,  Richard  Wooley,  Jr.,  R.  H. 
Russell,  N.  Mackey,  George  Dullnig,  J.  V.  Dignowity,  J. 
S.  Thornton,  F.  Groos,  H.  P.  Drought,  D.  Sullivan,  Charles 
Hugo,  Rev.  Dr.  Giddiiigs,  C.  K.  Breneman,  W.  H.  Weiss, 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  329 

Frank  Grice,  Alex.  Joske,  Henry  Elmendorf,  Robert  Dris- 
coll,  Paul  Wagner,  J.  Ronse,  J.  E.  Pancoast,  Adolph 
Wagner,  George  H.  Kalteyer,  Charles  J.  Langholz,  C.  B. 
Mullaly,  R.  H.  McCracken,  A.  G.  Cooper,  Dr.  G.  Graham 
Watts,  Dr.  J.  P.  Ornealus,  Dr.  Amos  Graves,  and  A.  T. 
Wilson.  Mayor  McDonald,  of  Austin,  and  Hon.  L.  L.  • 
Foster  also  participated  in  the  reception. 

A  rainstorm  interfered  with  the  parade,  and  the  public 
reception  was  held  at  the  Opera  House,  thousands  being- 
unable  to  enter.  Mayor  Callaghaii  made  the  welcoming 
address  and  introduced  President  Harrison,  who  spoke  as 
follows : 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow-citizens — I  very  much  regret  that  frequent 
speaking  in  the  open  air  during  the  past  week  and  the  very  heavy 
atmosphere  which  we  have  this  morning  have  somewhat  impaired 
my  voice.  I  am  sure  you  will  crown  your  hospitality  and  kindness 
by  allowing  me  to  speak  to  you  very  briefly.  I  sympathize  with 
you  in  the  distress  which  you  feel  that  the  day  is  so  unpropitious 
for  any  street  demonstration,  but  I  have  been  told  by  one  wise  in 
such  matters  that  this  rain  is  worth  $5, 000, 000  to  Western  Texas. 
That  being  the  case,  it  greatly  moderates  our  regret.  It  has  come 
to  be  a  popular  habit  of  attributing  to  the  President  whatever 
weather  may  happen  on  any  demonstration  in  which  he  takes  a 
part.  I  suppose  I  may  claim  credit  this  morning  for  this  beneficial 
rain.  [Applause.  ]  I  generously  assure  you  that  if  it  is  worth  as 
much  money  as  my  friend  has  estimated  I  shall  not  take  more  than 
half  that  sum.  [Laughter.]  In  visiting  for  a  little  while  this 
historic  city,  I  had  anticipated  great  pleasure  in  looking  upon  the 
remains  of  an  earlier  occupancy  of  this  territory  in  which  you 
now  dwell.  Our  glance  this  morning  must  be  brief  and  imperfect, 
but  the  history  has  been  written  and  the  traditions  of  these  mar- 
tyrdoms which  occurred  here  for  liberty  are  fresh  in  your  minds 
and  are  still  an  inspiring  story  to  be  repeated  to  your  children. 

I  remember  in  my  early  boyhood  to  have  heard  in  our  family 
thrilling  descriptions  of  the  experiences  of  an  uncle,  whose  name 
I  bear,  in  some  of  those  campaigns  for  freedom  in  Texas  in  which 
he  took  a  part,  so  that  the  story  to  me  goes  back  to  those  dim  early 
recollections  of  childhood.  I  am  glad  to  stand  where  those  recol- 
lections are  revived  and  freshened,  for  they  were  events  of  momen- 
tous importance  to  this  country,  to  this  State,  and  to  the  whole 


330  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Union.  I  rejoice  that  you  have  here  so  great  a  commonwealth. 
The  stipulations  under  which  Texas  came  into  the  Union  of  the 
States,  and  which  provided  that  that  great  Territory  might  be 
subdivided  into  five  States,  seem  not  to  attract  much  attention  in 
Texas  now. 

Indeed,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  no  man  would  be  able  successfully 
to  appeal  to  the  suffrages  of  any  hamlet  in  Texas  upon  the  issue 
that  the  State  should  be  divided  at  all.  [Cheers.]  The  great 
industrial  capacities  which  you  have,  the  beneficent  climate  that 
spreads  over  much  of  your  vast  territory,  the  great  variety  of  pro- 
ductions which  your  soil  and  climate  render  possible,  give  a 
promise  for  the  future  of  a  prominence  among  the  great  States  of 
the  Union  that  seems  to  me  can  scarcely  fail  to  bring  Texas  to  the 
front  rank.  [Cheers.]  You  are  only  now  beginning  to  plough  this 
vast  stretch  of  land.  You  are  only  now  beginning  to  diversify 
those  interests,  to  emancipate  yourselves  by  producing  at  home  in 
your  fields  all  of  those  products  which  are  necessary  to  comfort- 
able existence. 

I  hope  you  will  soon  add,  indeed,  you  are  now  largely  adding, 
to  this  diversity  of  agricultural  pursuits  a  diversity  of  mechanical 
pursuits.  The  advantages  which  you  have  to  transmute  the  great 
production  of  the  field  into  the  manufactured  product  are  very 
great.  There  can  be  certainly  no  reason  why  a  very  large  part  of 
the  million  bales  of  cotton  which  you  produce  should  not  be  spun 
in  Texas.  [Cheers.]  I  hope  your  people  will  more  and  more  turn 
their  thoughts  to  this  matter,  for  just  in  proportion  as  a  community 
or  State  suitably  divides  its  energies  among  various  industries,  so 
does  it  retain  the  wealth  it  produces  and  increase  its  population. 
[Applause.  ] 

A  great  Englishman,  visiting  this  country  some  time  ago,  in 
speaking  of  the  impressions  which  were  made  upon  his  mind,  said 
he  was  constantly  asked  as  he  travelled  through  the  country  whether 
he  was  not  amazed  at  its  territorial  extent.  He  said  while  this, 
of  course,  was  a  notable  incident  of  travel,  he  wrondered  that  we 
did  not  forget  all  our  bigness  of  territory  in  a  contemplation  of  the 
great  spectacle  we  presented  as  a  free  people  in  organized  and 
peaceful  community.  He  regarded  this  side  of  our  country  and 
her  institutions  as  much  more  important  than  its  material  develop- 
ment or  its  territorial  extent,  and  he  was  right  in  that  judgment. 

My  fellow-citizens,  the  pride  of  America,  that  which  should 
attract  the  admiration  and  has  attracted  the  imagination  of  many 
people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  is  our  system  of  government. 
[Applause.  ]  I  am  glad  to  know,  and  to  have  expressed  my  satis- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  331 

faction  before,  that  here  in  this  State  of  Texas  you  are  giving 
attention  to  education  ;  that  you  have  been  able  to  erect  a  school 
fund,  the  interest  upon  which  promises  a  most  magnificent  endow- 
ment for  your  common  schools.  These  schools  are  the  pride  and 
safety  of  your  State.  They  gather  into  them  upon  a  common  level 
with  us,  and  I  hope  with  you,  the  children  of  the  rich  and  poor. 
In  the  State  in  which  I  dwell  everybody's  children  attend  the 
common  schools. 

This  lesson  of  equality,  the  perfect  system  which  has  been  devel- 
oped by  this  method  of  instruction,  is  training  a  valued  class  of 
citizens  to  take  up  the  responsibilities  of  government  when  we 
shall  lay  them  down.  [Applause.]  I  hope  every  one  of  your  com- 
munities, even  your  scattered  rural  communities,  will  pursue  this 
good  work.  I  am  sure  this  hope  is  shared  by  my  honored  host, 
Governor  Hogg,  who  sits  beside  me  [applause],  and  who,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  public  duties,  can  influence  the  progress  of  this 
great  measure.  No  material  greatness,  no  wealth,  no  accumula- 
tion of  splendor,  is  to  be  compared  with  those  humble  and  homely 
virtues  which  have  generally  characterized  our  American  homes. 

The  safety  of  the  State,  the  good  order  of  the  community — all 
that  is  good — the  capacity,  indeed,  to  produce  material  wealth,  is 
dependent  upon  intelligence  and  social  order.  [Applause.  ]  Wealth 
and  commerce  are  timid  creatures ;  they  must  be  assured  that  the 
nest  will  be  safe  before  they  build.  So  it  is  always  in  those  com- 
munities where  the  most  perfect  order  is  maintained,  where  intel- 
ligence is  protected,  where  the  Church  of  God  and  the  institutions 
of  religion  are  revered  and  respected,  that  we  find  the  largest 
development  in  material  wealth.  [Applause.] 

Thanking  you  for  your  cordial  greeting,  thanking  all  your  peo- 
ple, and  especially  the  Governor  of  your  State,  for  courtesies  which 
have  been  unfailing,  for  a  cordiality  and  friendliness  that  has  not 
found  any  stint  or  repression  in  the  fact  that  we  are  of  different 
political  opinions  [great  cheering],  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  this 
special  manifestation  of  respect,  and  to  ask  you  to  excuse  me  from 
further  speech.  I  shall  follow  such  arrangements  as  your  commit- 
tee have  made,  and  shall  be  glad  if  in  those  arrangements  there  is 
some  provision  by  which  I  may  meet  as  many  of  you  as  possible 
individually.  [Prolonged  cheering.] 


332  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

DEL  RIO,  TEXAS,  APRIL  21. 

THE  chief  incident  of  the  long  run  from  San  Antonio  to 
El  Paso  was  the  enthusiastic  reception  tendered  the  Presi- 
dent by  the  residents  of  the  thriving  frontier  town  of  Del 
Rio,  county  seat  of  Yal  Verde  County.  The  town  was 
handsomely  decorated,  and  the  following  Reception  Com- 
mittee welcomed  the  President  and  party :  Judge  W.  K. 
Jones,  C.  S.  Brodbent,  Zeno  Fielder,  J.  A.  Price,  H.  D. 
Bonnett,  E.  L.  Dignowity,  Paul  Flato,  Clyde  Woods, 
Thomas  Cunningham,  W.  C.  Easterling,  J.  C.  Clarkson, 
E.  G.  Nicholson,  C.  G.  Leighton,  and  R.  J.  Felder. 

Rev.  Dr.  H.  S.  Thrall,  the  veteran  historian  of  Texas, 
delivered  the  address  of  welcome.  The  President,  respond- 
ing, said: 

My  Friends — I  had  supposed  when  we  left  San  Antonio  that  we 
were  not  to  be  stopped  very  often  between  that  point  and  El  Paso 
with  such  assemblages  of  our  fellow-citizens.  We  had  settled  down 
to  an  easy  way  of  living  on  the  train,  and  I  had  supposed  that 
speech-making  would  not  be  taken  up  until  to-morrow.  I  thank 
you  most  cordially  for  this  friendly  evidence  of  your  interest,  and 
I  assure  you  that  all  of  these  matters  to  which  your  spokesman  has 
alluded  are  having  the  most  careful  consideration  of  the  authorities 
at  Washington.  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  who  is  with  me  on 
the  train,  has  been  diligent  in  an  effort  to  open  European  markets 
for  American  meats,  and  he  has  succeeded  so  far  that  our  exporta- 
tion has  very  largely  increased  in  the  last  year.  It  is  our  hope 
that  these  restrictions  may  still  further  be  removed,  and  that 
American  meat  products  may  have  a  still  larger  market  in  Europe 
than  they  have  had  for  veiy  many  years  past.  The  inspections 
now  provided  by  law  certainly  must  remove  every  reasonable  ob- 
jection to  the  use  of  American  meats ;  for  we  shall  demonstrate  to 
them  that  they  are  perfectly  wholesome  and  pure.  I  want  to  say, 
from  the  time  of  my  induction  into  office  until  this  hour  I  have 
had  before  me  constantly  the  need  of  the  American  farmer  of  a 
larger  market  for  his  products.  [Cries  of  "Good!  good!"  and 
cheers.  ]  Whatever  we  can  do  to  accomplish  that  will  be  done. 
I  want  to  thank  the  public-school  children  for  this  address  which 
they  have  placed  in  my  hands.  What  a  blessed  thing  it  is  that 
the  public  school  system  is  found  with  the  pioneer!  It  follows  the 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  333 

buffalo  very  closely  I  am  glad  to  find  that  your  children  ar6  being 
trained  in  intelligence  and  in  those  moral  restraints  which  shall 
make  them  good  citizens.  I  thank  you  for  your  kindly  presence. 


EL  PASO,  TEXAS,  APRIL  21. 

THE  enterprising  city  of  El  Paso  was  reached  at  10 
o'clock  Tuesday  morning,  and  the  President  was  tendered 
a  veritable  ovation.  The  reception  at  this  point  partook  of 
an  international  aspect.  President  Diaz  of  Mexico  was 
represented  in  the  person  of  Governor  Carrillo,  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive of  the  State  of  Chihuahua,  accompanied  by  a  brill- 
iant staff  of  20  officers.  The  War  Department  of  the 
Mexican  Government  was  represented  by  Gen.  Jose  Maria 
Ran j el,  Chief  of  the  Second  Military  Zone,  accompanied 
by  his  staff,  a  company  of  artillery,  and  the  Eleventh  Bat- 
talion Band  of  45  instruments.  From  the  City  of  Mexico 
came  Col.  Ricardo  Villanueva  and  Col.  Ygnacio  J.  Mon- 
roy,  representing  the  Federal  Government,  while  the  neigh- 
boring city  of  Juarez  was  represented  by  Colonel  Ross,  com- 
mander of  the  garrison,  Senor  Mejia,  Senor  Urtetiga,  and 
many  other  prominent  citizens.  The  city  of  El  Paso  was 
represented  by  Mayor  Richard  Caples  and  the  members  of 
the  City  Council.  The  Citizens'  Committee  of  Reception 
comprised  W.  S.  Hills,  Chairman;  E.  B.  Bronson,  M.  B. 
Davis,  S.  W.  Russell,  W.  F.  Payne,  Frank  P.  Clark,  C.  F. 
Slack,  Geo.  L.  Stewart,  H.  S.  Beattie,  Judge  Allen  Blacker, 
A  Solomon,  W.  B.  Merrick,  A.  Berla,  Louis  Papin,  Geo. 
E.  Bovee,  James  A.  Smith,  Hon.  S.  W.  T.  Lanham,  A.  J. 
Eaton,  Z.  T.  White,  W.  S.  McCutcheon,  A.  M.  Loomis,  H. 
C.  Myles,  Ben  Schuster,  A.  J  Sampson,  D.  W.  Reckhart, 
and  J.  F.  Satterthwaite. 

Governor  Carrillo  stood  beside  President  Harrison  dur- 
ing the  reception.  After  the  distinguished  Mexicans  had 
paid  their  respects  and  greeted  our  Chief  Magistrate,  Gen. 
A.  G.  Malloy,  on  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  El  Paso,  in  an 


334  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

eloquent  address  welcomed  him  to  the  Gate  City  of  the 
two  republics. 

President  Harrison  responded  as  follows : 

My  Fellow -citizens — I  have  been  journeying  for  several  days 
throughout  the  great  State  of  Texas.  We  are  now  about  to  leave 
her  territory  and  receive  from  you  this  parting  salutation.  Our 
entrance  into  the  State  was  with  every  demonstration  of  respect 
and  enthusiasm.  This  is  a  fitting  close  to  the  magnificent  expres- 
sion which  the  people  of  this  State  have  given  to  us.  I  am  glad 
to  stand  at  this  gateway  of  trade  with  the  great  republic  of  Mex- 
ico. [Cries  of  "Hear!  hear!"  and  cheers.]  I  am  glad  to  know 
that  it  is  not  only  a  gateway  of  commerce,  but  a  gateway  of 
friendship  [cheers]  ;  that  not  only  do  these  hurrying  vehicles  of 
commerce  bear  the  products  of  the  fields  and  mines  in  mutual 
exchange,  but  that  they  have  facilitated  those  personal  relations 
which  have  promoted  and  must  yet  more  promote  the  friendliness 
of  two  independent  liberty -loving  peoples.  [Cheers.] 

I  receive  with  great  satisfaction  these  tributes  of  respect  which 
have  been  brought  to  me  by  the  Governor  of  Chihuahua  and  the 
representatives  of  the  army  of  Mexico.  [Cheers.]  I  desire  to 
return  to  them  and  through  them  to  the  people  of  Mexico  and  to 
that  illustrious  and  progressive  statesman  who  presides  over  her 
destinies  [cheers]  not  only  my  sincere  personal  regard,  but  an 
assurance  of  the  friendliness  and  respect  of  the  American  Govern- 
ment and  the  American  people.  I  look  forward  with  interest  to  a 
larger  development  of  our  trade  ;  to  the  opening  of  new  lines  of 
commerce  and  new  avenues  of  friendship.  We  have  passed  that 
era  in  our  history,  I  hope,  when  we  were  aggressive  and  unpleas- 
ant neighbors.  We  do  not  covet  the  territory  of  any  other  people 
[cheers],  but  do  covet  their  friendship  and  those  trade  exchanges 
which  are  mutually  profitable.  [Cheers.  ] 

And  now  to  you,  my  fellow -citizens,  I  bring  congratulations  for 
the  rapid  development  which  you  are  making  here,  and  extend  the 
most  cordial  good  wishes  for  the  realization  of  every  hope  you 
have  for  El  Paso  and  its  neighborhood.  [Cheers.]  All  republics 
are  builded  on  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  people.  They  are 
enduring  and  stable  as  their  institutions  and  their  rulers  continue 
to  preserve  their  respect.  I  rejoice  that  those  influences  that  tend 
to  soften  the  asperities  of  human  life — the  home,  the  school,  and 
the  church — have  kept  pace  with  the  enterprises  of  commerce  and 
are  established  here  among  you.  All  commerce  and  trade  rest 
upon  the  foundation  of  social  order.  You  cannot  attract  an  in- 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  335 

creased  citizenship  except  as  you  give  to  the  world  a  reputation 
for  social  order  [cheers],  in  which  crime  is  suppressed,  in  which 
the  rights  of  the  humble  are  respected  [cheers],  and  where  the 
courts  stand  as  the  safe  bulwark  of  the  personal  and  public  rights 
of  every  citizen,  however  poor.  [Cheers.]  I  trust  that  as  your 
city  grows  you  will  see  that  these  foundations  are  carefully  and 
broadly  laid,  and  then  you  may  hope  that  the  superstructure,  mag- 
nificent in  its  dimensions,  perfect  in  its  security  and  grace,  shall 
rise  in  your  midst.  [Cheers.  ] 

I  am  glad  to  meet  my  comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  [cheers],  the  survivors  of  the  grand  struggle  for  the 
Union.  It  was  one  of  the  few  wars  in  history  that  brought  bless- 
ings to  the  "victors  and  vanquished,"  and  was  followed  by  no 
proscriptions,  no  block,  no  executions,  but  by  the  reception  of 
those  who  had  striven  for  the  destruction  of  the  country  into 
friendly  citizenship,  laying  upon  them  no  yoke  that  was  not  borne 
by  the  veterans — that  of  obedience  to  the  law  and  a  due  respect  for 
the  rights  of  others.  [Cheers.  ] 

Again,  sir  [to  the  Mexican  representative],  I  thank  you  for  the 
friendly  greeting  you  have  brought  from  across  this  narrow  river 
that  separates  us,  and  to  you  my  fellow-countrymen,  I  extend  my 
thanks  and  bid  you  good-by.  [Prolonged  cheers.] 


DEMING,   NEW  MEXICO,  APRIL  21. 

As  the  train  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  and  entered  New 
Mexico  Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  Governor  of  that  Terri- 
torjT,  gave  the  Chief  Magistrate  a  cordial  welcome.  Dem- 
ing  was  reached  at  2  o'clock.  The  city  was  in  holiday  at- 
tire ;  a  battery  of  artillery  thundered  the  presidential  salute, 
two  companies  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  under  Captain  Keyes, 
came  to  a  present  as  the  President  appeared,  and  the 
Twenty-fourth  Infantry  Band  burst  forth  in  patriotic 
strains.  The  Committee  of  Reception  comprised  the  follow- 
ing prominent  citizens :  Judge  Boone,  C.  !L  Dane,  B.  A. 
Knowles,  J.  R.  Meyers,  A.  J.  Clark,  J.  P.  Bryon,  W.  H. 
Hudson,  S.  M.  Ashenfelter,  Gustav  Wormser,  Ed.  Pen- 
nington,  W.  Burg,  James  Martin,  Colonel  Fitzerell,  James 
A.  Lockhart,  Seaman  Field,  John  Corbett,  E.  G.  Ross,  and 


336  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

Robert    Campbell.      Professor  Hayes   delivered  the  wel- 
coming address. 

In  reply  Pi  esident  Harrison  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  tarry  for  a 
moment  here  and  to  receive  out  on  these  broad  and  sandy  plains 
the  same  evidence  of  friendliness  that  has  greeted  me  in  the  States. 
I  feel  great  interest  in  your  people,  and  thinking  that  you  have 
labored  under  a  disadvantage  by  reason  of  the  unsettled  state  of 
your  land  titles — because  no  country  can  settle  up  and  become 
populous  while  the  titles  to  its  land  remain  insecure — it  was  my 
pleasure  to  urge  upon  Congress,  both  in  a  general  and  special  mes- 
sage, the  establishment  of  a  special  land  court  to  settle  this  ques- 
tion once  for  all.  [Cheers.  ] 

I  am  glad  that  the  statute  is  now  a  law,  and  immediately  upon 
my  return  from  this  trip  I  expect  to  announce  the  judges  of 
that  court,  and  to  set  them  immediately  to  work  upon  these  cases, 
so  that  you  shall  certainly,  within  two  years,  have  all  these  ques- 
tions settled.  1  hope  you  will  then  see  an  increase  of  population 
that  has  not  as  yet  been  possible,  and  which  will  tend  to  develop 
your  great  mineral  resources  and  open  up  your  lands  to  settlement. 
Thanking  you,  on  behalf  of  our  party,  for  this  pleasant  greeting,  I 
bid  you  good-by.  [Cheers.] 


LORDSBURG,  NEW  MEXICO,   APRIL  21. 

AT  Lordsburg,  New  Mexico,  the  train  made  a  brief  stop. 
A  number  of  citizens,  headed  by  Don.  H.  Kedzee,  wel- 
comed the  President  and  presented  him  a  handsome  silver 
box,  manufactured  from  metal  mined  in  the  vicinity.  On 
the  case  was  inscribed,  "  Protect  the  chief  industry  of  our 
Territories.  Give  us  free  coinage  of  silver."  In  accepting 
the  memento  the  President  said :  "  Mr.  Kedzee  and  gentle- 
men, I  thank  you  for  this  cordial  welcome  and  for  this  ele- 
gant souvenir,  and  assure  you  due  care  will  be  taken  of 
your  interests."  [Cheers.] 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  337 

TUCSON,  ARIZONA,  APRIL  21. 

TUCSON,  the  metropolis  of  Arizona,  was  brilliantly 
illuminated  in  honor  of  the  visitors,  who  were  welcomed 
by  5,000  citizens  and  a  band  of  Papago  Indians.  Negley 
Post,  G.  A.  R.,  J.  J.  Hill,  Commander,  represented  the  vet- 
erans. The  city  government  was  present  in  the  persons  of 
Mayor  Frederick  Maish  and  Councilmen  M.  G.  Sameniego, 
M.  Lamont,  Geo.  Lesure,  Wm.  Reid,  Frank  Miltenberg, 
and  Julius  Goldbaum.  The  Committee  of  Reception  on 
the  part  of  the  citizens  comprised  many  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  Territory  as  well  as  of  the  city, 
among  whom  were :  Federal  Judges  R.  E.  Sloan  and  H. 
C.  Gooding,  Gen.  R.  A.  Johnson,  Gen.  R.  H.  Paul,  Charles 
R.  Drake,  Herbert  Brown,  Brewster  Cameron,  J.  Knox 
Corbett,  George  Christ,  J.  S.  McGee,  S.  Ainsa,  Samuel 
Hughes,  Juan  Elias,  Rev.  Howard  Billman,  Albert  Stein- 
feld,  H.  S.  Stevens,  M.  P.  Freeman,  S.  M.  Franklin,  W.  C. 
Davis,  W.  M.  Lovell,  J.  S.  Noble,  H.  B.  Tenny,  F.  H.  Here- 
ford, D.  C.  Driscoll,  J.  C.  Handy,  J.  A.  Black,  Thomas 
Hughes;  A.  J.  Keen,  J.  M.  Ormsby,  H.  E.  Lacy,  G.  B. 
Henry,  Frank  Allison,  George  Pusch,  H.  W.  Fenner,  R.  D. 
Furguson,  F.  J.  Henry,  and  C.  C.  Eyster. 

Hon.  Thos.  F.  Wilson  made  the  address  of  welcome. 
The  President  said : 

My  Fellow -citizens — It  is  surprising  as  well  as  gratifying  to  see 
so  many  friends  assembled  to  greet  us  on  our  arrival  at  Tucson  to- 
night. I  beg  to  assure  you  that  the  interests  of  the  Territories  are 
very  close  to  my  heart.  By  reason  of  my  service  as  Chairman  of 
the  Territory  Committee  in  the  United  States  Senate  I  was  brought 
to  study  very  closely  the  needs  of  the  Territories.  I  have  had 
great  pleasure  issuing  the  proclamations  admitting  five  Territories 
to  the  sisterhood  of  States  since  I  became  President.  I  realize  the 
condition  of  the  people  of  the  Territory  without  having  representa- 
tion in  Congress  as  one  of  disadvantage,  and  I  am  friendly  to  the 
suggestion  that  these  Territories,  as  they  have  sufficient  population 
to  sustain  a  State  Government  and  to  secure  suitable  adminis- 
tration of  the  own  affairs,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union. 


338  HARRISON'S  SPEECHES. 

[Cheers.  ]  It  will  be  gratifying  to  me  if  you  shall  come  into  that 
condition  during  the  time  that  I  occupy  the  presidential  chair. 
[Cheers.]  I  thank  you  again  for  your  cordial  demonstration,  and 
beg  to  present  to  you  that  gentleman  of  the  Cabinet  who  has  charge 
of  the  postal  affairs,  Mr.  Wanamaker.  [Prolonged  cheers.  J 


INDIO,  CALIFORNIA,  APRIL  22. 

THE  morning  of  the  22d  brought  the  President  and  his 
party  out  of  the  great  desert  to  the  borders  of  California, 
where  at  Indio,  the  first  station,  they  were  enthusiasti- 
cally greeted  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  Hon.  Henry 
H.  Markham,  at  the  head  of  the  following  distinguished 
committee:  Senator  Charles  N".  Felton,  ex-Gov.  Geo.  C. 
Perkins,  Col.  Charles  F.  Crocker,  Hon.  E.  F.  Del  Valle, 
Hon.  Stephen  M.  White,  Gen.  E.  P.  Johnson,  Hon. 
Hervey  Liiidley,  Hon.  Freeman  G.  Teed,  Hon.  Irwin  C. 
Stump,  Hon.  Frank  McCoppin,  and  Adjutant- General 
Allen.  From  the  districts  adjacent  to  Indio  were  gathered 
several  hundred  people  to  greet  the  Chief  Magistrate, 
mostly  Indians.  Postmaster  A.  G.  Tingman  introduced 
the  venerable  Chief  Cabazon,  head  of  the  Cohuilla  tribe 
and  over  100  }^ears  old,  who  presented  a  petition  to  the 
President  asking  that  the  lands  guaranteed  his  people  by 
the  treaty  with  Mexico  be  restored  to  them.  Governor 
Markham  delivered  a  cordial  welcoming  address,  wherein 
he  reviewed  the  wonderful  growth  of  California. 

The  President,  in  reply,  said  he  would  not  undertake, 
while  almost  choked  with  the  dust  of  the  plains  he  had  just 
left,  to  say  all  that  he  hoped  to  say  in  the  way  of  pleasant 
greetings  to  the  citizens  of  California.  Some  time,  when 
he  had  been  refreshed  by  their  olive  oil  and  their  vine- 
yards, he  would  endeavor  to  express  his  gratification  at 
being  able  to  visit  California.  He  had  long  desired  to 
visit  California,  and  it  was  the  objective  point  of  this  trip. 
He  had  seen  the  northern  coast  and  Puget  Sound,  but  had 


HARRISON'S  SPEECHES.  3,'iU 

never  before  been  able  to  see  California.  He  remembered 
from  boyhood  the  excitement  of  the  discovery  of  gold,  and 
had  always  distantly  followed  California's  growth  and 
progress.  The  acquisition  of  California  was  second  only 
to  that  of  Louisiana  and  the  control  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  It  secured  us  this  great  coast,  and  made  impossible 
the  ownership  of  a  foreign  power  on  any  of  our  coast  line'. 
It  has  helped  to  perfect  our  magnificent  isolation,  which 
is  our  great  protection  against  foreign  aggression.  He 
thanked  the  Governor  and  committee  for  their  kindly  re- 
ception, and  assured  them  that  if  he  should  have  any  com- 
plaints to  make  of  his  treatment  in  California  it  would  be 
because  its  people  had  been  too  hospitable. 


COLTON,   CALIFORNIA,  APRIL  22. 

AT  Colton  the  presidential  party  were  enthusiastically 
greeted  by  several  thousand  people.  The  Citizens'  Com- 
mittee comprised  A.  B.  Miner,  Chairman;  Dr.  Fox,  J.  B. 
Shepardson,  Wilson  Hays,  W.  H.  Wright,  F.  M.  Hubbard, 
Dr.  Hutchinson,  H.  B.  Smith,  J.  W.  Davis,  S.  M.  Goddard, 
J.  B.  Hanna,  Captain  Topp,  W.  W.  Wilcox,  M.  A.  Mur- 
phy, Prof.  Mathews,  R.  A.  Kuhn,  C.  B.  Hamilton,  J.  M. 
White,  Dr.  Sprecher,  Geo.  E.  Slaughter,  R.  F.  Franklin, 
E.  A.  Pettijohn,  E.  E.  Thompson,  Dan  Swartz,  R.  M.  Mc- 
Kie,  Wm.  McCully  and  Proctor  McCann.  The  committee 
appointed  to  wait  on  Mrs.  Harrison  were:  Mesdames 
Hubbard,  Button,  Shepardson,  Fuller,  Gilbert,  Shibley, 
Hebbard,  and  Wright.  Twelve  school-girls  presented  as 
many  baskets  of  oranges  to  the  lady  of  the  White  House. 

The  President  addressed  the  assemblage  and  said : 

My  FcUow- citizens — We  have  travelled  now  something  more  than 
3,500  miles.  They  have  been  3,500  miles  of  cordial  greeting  from 
my  fellow-citizens ;  they  have  been  3,500  miles  of  perpetual  talk. 
It  would  require  a  brain  more  fertile  in  resources,  more  diversi- 
fied in  its  operations  than  the  State  of  California  m  its  richness 


340  HARRISONS  SPEECHES, 

and  productions,  to  say  something  original  or  interesting  at  each 
one  of  these  stopping  places ;  but  1  can  say  always  with  a  warm 
heart  to  my  fellow-citizens  who  greet  me  so  cordially,  who  look  to 
me  out  of  such  kindly  faces,  I  thank  you  ;  I  am  your  servant  in  all 
things  that  will  conduce  to  the  general  prosperity  and  happiness  of 
the  American  people. 

Remote  from  us  of  the  far  East  in  distance,  we  are  united  to  you 
not  only  by  the  ties  of  a  common  citizenship,  by  the  reverence  and 
honor  we  joyfully  give  to  the  one  flag,  but  by  those  interchanges 
of  emigration  which  have  brought  so  many  of  the  people  of  the 
older  States  to  you.  At  every  station  where  I  have  stopped  since 
entering  California  some  Hoosier  has  reached  up  his  hand  to  greet 
me  [laughter  and  cheers],  and  the  omnipresent  Ohio  man,  of 
course,  I  have  found  everywhere.  I  was  assured  by  these  gentle- 
men that  they  were  making  their  full  contributions  to  the  develop- 
ment of  your  country,  and  that  they  have  possessed  themselves  of 
their  fair  share  of  it. 

I  have  been  greatly  pleased  this  morning  to  come  out  of  the  land 
of  the  desert  and  the  drifting  sand  into  this  land  of  homes  and 
smiling  w^omen  and  bright  children.  I  have  been  glad  to  see  these 
beautiful  gardens  and  these  fertile  fields,  and  to  know  that  you  are 
now,  by  the  economical  collection  and  distribution  of  the  waters 
of  the  hills,  making  all  these  valleys  to  blossom  like  the  garden  of 
Eden.  We  do  not  come  to  spy  the  land  with  any  view  of  dispos- 
sessing you,  as  the  original  spies  went  into  Palestine.  We  come 
simply  to  exchange  friendly  greetings,  and  we  shall  hope  to  carry 
aw^ay  nothing  that  does  not  belong  to  us.  [Cheers.  ] 

If  we  shall  leave  your  happy  and  prosperous  State  freighted  with 
your  good-will  and  love,  as  we  shall  leave  ours  with  you,  it  will 
be  a  happy  ex